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SCREENING COMPLEX HAZARDOUS WASTES FOR MUTAGENIC ACTIVITY USING A MODIFIED VERSION OF THE TLC/SALMONELLA ASSAY
Citation:
Houk, V. AND L. Claxton. SCREENING COMPLEX HAZARDOUS WASTES FOR MUTAGENIC ACTIVITY USING A MODIFIED VERSION OF THE TLC/SALMONELLA ASSAY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-86/024 (NTIS PB86187234).
Description:
Ten complex hazardous wastes were tested for mutagenic activity using a modified version of the TLC/Ames assay developed by Bjorseth et al. (1982). This fractionation/bioassay scheme couples thin layer chromatography (TLC) with the Salmonella/mammalian-microsome (Ames) assay for the detection of mutagenic constituents in complex mixtures. Crude (unadulterated) hazardous wastes and selected hazardous waste extracts were fractionated on commercially available cellulose TLC plates. Mutagenicity testing was performed in situ by applying a single overlay of minimal growth agar, tester strain TA98 or TA100, and the optional metablic activation system directly onto the developed chromatogram. A mutagenic effect was indicated either by the appearance of localized clusters of revertant colonies or by an increase in total revertant growth vis-a-vis control plates. Seven of ten hazardous wastes (including tars, emulsions, sludges, and spent acids and caustics) demonstrated mutagenic activity when tested by this method.