RESUMO
In order to assess bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in soils, male laboratory rats were exposed to litters of control and polluted soils. After 88+/-2 h of exposure, several biomarkers were measured in both liver and lung. When rats were exposed to SIV soil, contaminated by a mixture of at least 13 PAHs, (1) only 2 or 3 PAH compounds were detected in liver and lung; (2) cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenase activity, followed by 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity measurement, was highly induced in liver (13-fold-induction) and lung (up to 78-fold); and (3) DNA adducts were significantly increased. For what concerns soil artificially contaminated by only one PAH (phenanthrene or B[a]P), EROD activity was not or fully induced, respectively. These results demonstrate the occurrence of a high bioavailability of PAHs to mammals in natural conditions of exposure. First results concerning DNA adducts must be profound, but they already show that a short exposure of mammals to PAH-polluted soils can lead to potential genotoxic effects. EROD activity can be used as a sensitive biomarker in both liver and lung of rats maintained on litters of soils in the laboratory, and such a test can be used routinely to contribute to risk assessment.