| Abstract: | The leaching behavior of selected four- to six-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from a tumorigenic coal-derived solid product was determined using three media to evaluate their potential bioavailabilities. Equilibrium PAH concentrations generally exceeded the aqueous solubilities after less than five days of leaching. PAH selectively accumulated in phospholipid vesicles at individual concentrations greater than 1 μg/g, which is ca. 100-fold over that in the bulk aqueous leachate. The results suggest that the PAH are quite bioavailable from the solid product, and that cell membranes can be exposed to considerable quantities of these PAH over an extended bioassay. |
