A new organosilicon adsorbent for air-gas mixture purification.

Natural zeolites (klinoptiolits) were treated with Onkosorb adsorbent (N,N′-bis(3-triethoxysilyl-propyl-thiocarbamide)) to attain greater nitrosamine (NA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) adsorption capacity. The efficiency of volatile NA recovery rose from 30 to 77%; that of PAH recovery, from 20 to 63.7 %. The increased adsorption efficiency of the toxicants from an air-gas mixture was also reflected in biological indicators. Prolonged exposure of rats to the air-gas mixture (similar in composition to the air in industrial zones) led to a 25% reduction in the maximum rates of succinate oxidation and the efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation in liver mitochondria. The changes in the energetics of mitochondria were apparently associated with the action of the toxicants, as is indicated by a 22 % increase of P-450 cytochrome content in the liver tissue. An air-gas mixture passed through an Onkosorb adsorbent layer on zeolite did not produce any of the above changes in the mitochondrion energetics or the effect on P-450 cytochrome content in the liver tissue. We assume a high level of efficiency for Onkosorb adsorbent on zeolite in PAH and NA absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]