Dichloromethane extracts of four diverse hazardous wastes (coke plant, herbicide mfg., pulp and paper, and oil refining) were evaluated for mutagenicity in strains TA98 and TA100 of Salmonella. These extracts also were tested for biological activity in short-term mammalian cells assays, including mutagenicity in L5178Y/TK+/- mouse lymphoma cells, morphological transformation in Balb/c-3T3 cells, and teratogenic potential in mouse limb bud cells. The mammalian cell assays were performed using limited protocols that consisted of a preliminary testing of the extracts for cytotoxicity in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in order to estimate the appropriate dose range for the other assays. In general, preliminary cytotoxicity testing with CHO cells helped to establish the dose range appropriate for the other mammalian cell assays. Although all four of the wastes were presumptively positive for either mutation or cytogenetic effects, none of the wastes transformed Balb/c-3T3 cells. (Copyright (c) 1987 by Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.)