A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF 5 NITRO MUSK COMPOUNDS FOR GENOTOXICITY IN THESOS CHROMOTEST AND SALMONELLA MUTAGENICITY

Five nitro musk compounds widely used in cosmetics and detergents were examined for DNA-damaging and mutation-inducing properties. For this purpose two short-time assays were used, the SOS chromotest and the Sa lmonella/mammalian microsome test. Musk ambrette showed mutagenicity i n Salmonella typhimurium TA 100 requiring metabolic activation by rat liver postmitochondrial supernatant (S9) but it lacked mutagenicity in the absence of S9 and genotoxicity in the SOS chromotest. Musk xylene , musk ketone, musk moskene and musk tibetene showed neither mutagenic ity nor genotoxicity in the presence and absence of S9.