Trinh_2010_J.Appl.Toxicol_30_596

Smoke, smoke-water and aerosols have a stimulatory effect on seed germination and growth vigour of many seedlings, making them potentially useful for different purposes, provided they do not pose a health risk. Therefore, the genotoxicity of two kinds of smoke-water and 3,7-dimethyl-2H-furo[2,3-c]pyran-2-one, a variant of the most active smoke compound (3-methyl-2H-furo[2,3-c]pyran-2-one) was evaluated using the Vitotox assay. Smoke-water extracts were obtained from burning leaves: Themeda triandra (smoke-water Tt) and a mix of Themeda triandra and Passerina vulgaris (smoke-water Kb). No genotoxic effect was observed for any of the three samples. However, the three samples are toxic at the highest concentrations (3,7-dimethyl-2H-furo[2,3-c]pyran-2-one, 2 ppm; smoke-water Tt, dilutions 1 : 1, 1 : 2, 1 : 4; smoke-water Kb, dilution 1 : 1) without addition of S9 mix. Both the butenolide 3,7-dimethyl-2H-furo[2,3-c]pyran-2-one and smoke-water Tt are also toxic at high doses in the presence of S9 (2 ppm and dilutions 1 : 1 and 1 : 2, respectively), but not smoke-water Kb. Thus, from these results, no genotoxicity of these three samples can be assumed, which is accordance with the previous tests performed with 3-methyl-2H-furo[2,3-c]pyran-2-one and a smoke-water.