The mutagenicity of organic microcontaminants in the environment. I. The mutagenicity of selected herbicides and insecticides in the Salmonella microsome test (Ames test) with regard to the pathogenic potency of contaminated ground and drinking water

: For determination of the mutagenicity of herbicides and insecticides in working and environmental relevant concentrations we examined 26 pure substances of the chemical groups of polychlorinated alicyclic hydrocarbons, phenoxy fatty acids and and triazines with the Salmonella-microsome-test (S. typhimurium strains TA 97, TA 98, TA 100 and TA 102 with and without metabolic activation with Aroclor 1254 induced rat liver microsome fraction). Only one substance--Chlorthiamide--showed mutagenicity in concentrations of 0.001 microgram/plate. In all the other substances examined we found numbers of revertants near the spontaneous mutagenic rates. However a human carcinogenic potential can't be excluded, because several toxicological studies with mammalians showed a carcinogenic activity of organohalogenic insecticides without mutagenic activity in biological short term tests.