The purpose of the research was to develop and characterize a sensitive test method to detect mutagenic activity of volatile liquid organic chemicals (i.e., volatiles) in the Ames/Salmonella assay. A Tedlar bag vaporization technique was developed which increased contact time between the volatiles and bacterial test system, circumvented volatilization limitations in the standard plate incorporation and preincubation methods, allowed chemical analysis during incubation and was flexible in design. The vaporization technique was evaluated concurrently against the plate incorporation and preincubation techniques with eight liquid volatile mutagens. When volatile organic chemicals with boiling points below 63 C were tested for mutagenic activity, the most sensitive test conditions were the vaporization technique with TA100. GC analysis of epichlorohydrin and butylene oxide concentrations within Tedlar bags suggested that these two chemicals volatilized and were contained in the media after one hour of incubation at 37 C.