Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke results in an increased production of (+)-anti-benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide in juvenile ferret lung homogenates.
Six-week-old ferrets were exposed head-only to clean air or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at an average particulate concentration of 38 +/- 13 mg/m3 for 2 h/d, 5 d/wk for up to 15 wk. Twenty four hours after last exposure, the ferrets were sacrificed and the metabolism of benzo[a]pyrene and (-)-7R-trans-benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol was studied in lung homogenates. The results show that after ETS exposure total metabolism of benzo[a]pyrene, measured by the accumulation of hexane nonextractable radioactivity, was increased by 35% in the males and 66% in the females (p < .05), respectively, of that observed with air-exposed controls. With (-)-7R-trans-benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol as substrate, the formation of both benzo[a]pyrene-r-7,t-8,9,c-10-tetrahydrotetraol and (+)-anti-benzo[a]-pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide-derived tetraols by lung homogenates of ETS-exposed male and female ferrets was significantly increased compared to the air-exposed controls (p < .01). DNA-bound radioactivity was significantly increased in both the males (p < .01) and females (p < .05) compared to the air-exposed ferrets.