Fluoranthene is a

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon A Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is any member of a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple fused aromatic rings. Most are produced by the incomplete combustion of organic matter— by engine exhaust fumes, tobacco, incine ...

(PAH). The molecule can be viewed as the fusion of

naphthalene Naphthalene is an organic compound with formula . It is the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and is a white Crystal, crystalline solid with a characteristic odor that is detectable at concentrations as low as 0.08 Parts-per notation ...

and

benzene Benzene is an Organic compound, organic chemical compound with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar hexagonal Ring (chemistry), ring with one hyd ...

unit connected by a five-membered ring. The chemical formula is . Although samples are often pale yellow, the compound is colorless. It is soluble in nonpolar organic solvents.Karl Griesbaum, Arno Behr, Dieter Biedenkapp, Heinz-Werner Voges, Dorothea Garbe, Christian Paetz, Gerd Collin, Dieter Mayer, Hartmut Höke “Hydrocarbons” in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2002 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. It is a member of the class of PAHs known as non-alternant PAHs because it has rings other than those with six carbon atoms. It is a structural isomer of the alternant PAH pyrene. It is not as thermodynamically stable as pyrene. Its name is derived from its

fluorescence Fluorescence is one of two kinds of photoluminescence, the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, many substances will glow (fluoresce) with colore ...

under UV light.

Occurrence

Traces of fluoranthene is found in many combustion products, along with other PAHs. It results from incomplete combustion. Fluoranthene was originally isolated from coal tar pitch. It is still obtained from the high boiling fraction of coal tar, representing a few percent by weight.

Pollutant

Fluoranthene is one of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 16 priority

pollutant A pollutant or novel entity is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effect, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like oi ...

PAHs. Fluoranthene has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a group 3

carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...

, "not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans" however it was found to possess carcinogenic properties in case of newborn mice according to short-term lung tumor assay (Busby et al., 1984). In 2019, fluoranthene was added to the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) due to its persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) properties. Its occurrence in food has been assessed. Its biodegradation has been elucidated. The process commences with dihydroxylation at each of two kinds of CH=CH linkages.

References

External links

National Pollutant Inventory - Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Fact Sheet

Chemical Profile for FLUORANTHENE from Scorecard

TOXICITY SUMMARY FOR FLUORANTHENE August 1993
{{PAHs Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Tetracyclic compounds PBT substances