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Here is the latest American Chemical Society (ACS) Weekly PressPac from the Office of Public Affairs. It has news from ACS' 34 peer-reviewed journals and Chemical & Engineering News.

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ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gene - altering compounds released from forest fires
Environmental Science & Technology

Scientists in Washington State are reporting the first discovery of potent mutagenic substances in smoke from forest fires that often sweep through huge stands of Ponderosa pine in the western United States and Canada. Their discovery of these mutagens substances that can damage the genetic material DNA is scheduled for the June 1 edition of ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

In the study, Julia Laskin and colleagues note that forest fires long have been recognized as major sources of organic compounds containing nitrogen. But their research is the first to show that the nitrogen compounds exist as alkaloids, which are naturally occurring mutagens that are produced by trees and other plants.

Ponderosa pine trees, the researchers note, often grow in droughty areas and in forests subject to large-scale outbreaks of fires, and have high levels of alkaloids in their needles. Fires help to transfer alkaloids from needles into tiny particles that can be then transported through the air. Noting that the alkaloids can be transported long distances, the scientists say that fires involving Ponderosa pines could have adverse human health effects. JS

ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Molecular Characterization of Nitrogen Containing Organic Compounds i
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