[PCDD/F-content in house dust]. / PCDD/F-Gehalte im Hausstaub.

The levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) were determined in house dust samples collected from 22 residential houses located in different areas of Germany. Nine houses were located in an urban and industrial area, one house in a rural and 10 houses in a contaminated residential area near to a former metal reclamation plant. Two house dust samples were collected from two old farm houses, in which large amounts of pentachlorophenol (PCP) containing wood preservatives had been used several years ago. All dust samples were collected from the dust bags of vacuum cleaners and passed through a sieve (mesh: 2.0 mm). Particles < 2.0 mm were used for analysis. The average level of PCDD/F in "normal" house dust was 101 ng I-TEq/kg (range: 7.83-332 ng I-TEq/kg). The predominant congeners and chlorohomologues were OctaCDD followed by HeptaCDD, HeptaCDF and OctaCDF. The average level of PCDD/F in house dust samples collected from a contaminated residential area was 265 ng I-TEq/kg (range: 29.9-1050 ng I-TEq/kg). When compared with "normal" residential houses significantly increased levels of lower chlorinated PCDD/F were noted in the house dust samples from this area. The house dust samples collected from a PCP-treated old farm house were found to contain 1.39 and 11.8 micrograms I-TEq/kg. The chlorohomologues patterns were typical for PCP contaminated with PCDD/F. The present study shows that the levels of PCDD/F in house dust may be used as indicators of indoor contamination by PCDD/F and as reference values for further investigations.

Characteristics of the induction of two double-stranded RNA-dependent enzymes by interferon in parental and variant L cells.

The interferon (IFN)-dependent induction of two double-stranded RNA-dependent enzymes was examined in L cells and an L-cell variant (WDIFN) which is highly resistant to the inhibitory effects of IFN on cellular multiplication. IFN, in a concentration-dependent manner, inhibited the multiplication of parental L cells and induced increased levels of the double-stranded RNA-dependent enzymes in parental L cells. Although WDIFN cells were resistant to the antiproliferative effects of IFN, the cells responded to IFN by increasing their levels of the double-stranded RNA-dependent enzymes. However, the level of activity of each enzyme was lower in the WDIFN line than the parental line when both lines were treated with similar concentrations of IFN. The reduced response of the WDIFN line was not the result of the line being a heterogeneous population of cells nor of IFN being more unstable in the presence of WDIFN cells. In addition there was no evidence that WDIFN cells produced a mitogenic factor that could overcome the antiproliferative effects of IFN, nor that sodium butyrate could increase the sensitivity of WDIFN cells to the antiproliferative effects of IFN.

The interferon-induced hyporesponsive state in variant and parental L cells: a requirement for cell division.

L cells grown for 18 to 22 months in the presence of interferon (IFN) retained their sensitivity to the antiviral effect of IFN but were less sensitive to cell growth inhibition by IFN. Moreover, the parental and variant lines became hyporesponsive (i.e. less responsive to virus induction of IFN) with different kinetics after IFN treatment. Experiments using mitomycin C to inhibit cell division suggested that cell division is required to enter the hyporesponsive state.

An interferon-induced refractory state of L cells: role of the nucleus and cytoplasm.

Pre-treatment of L cells with 750 units/ml of mouse interferon depressed the yield of interferon when the cells were treated with Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The refractory state persisted for more than 5 days. Nucleated fragments (karyoplasts) obtained by cytochalasin B-induced enucleation were made from such interferon pre-treated cells; cells reconstituted from these karyoplasts produced less interferon in response to NDV than did cells reconstituted from karyoplasts derived from untreated cells. The source of the enucleated cytoplasm (cytoplasts) used in the cellular reconstitutions did not affect the yields of interferon.