IN-VITRO STUDIES ON THE GENOTOXICITY OF 2,4-DICHLORO-6-NITROPHENOL AMMONIUM (DCNPA) AND ITS MAJOR METABOLITE

2,4-dichloro-6-nitrophenol ammonium (DCNPA) is used as a herbicide. Ho wever, information on the potential health hazards of DCNPA is limited . In a previous study, we found that DCNPA is genotoxic to Bacillus su btilis and yeast. Further studies were performed to determine whether DCNPA and its major metabolite, 2,4-dichloro-6-aminophenol (DCAP), can induce reverse mutations in Salmonella, gene mutations at the HPRT lo cus, sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) and micronuclei (MN) in V79 cel ls. Results show that DCNPA does not produce a positive response for a ny endpoint at concentrations tested. However, treatment of V79 cultur es with DCAP caused a significant increase in SCEs and MN in a concent ration-dependent manner. These results indicate that DCAP damages DNA and causes chromosomal aberrations in V79 cells. Therefore, DCNPA coul d pose potential health hazards to populations exposed to this herbici de.