Mutation induction in Chinese hamster V79 cells by two vinyl chloride metabolites, chloroethylene oxide and 2-chloroacetaldehyde.

Chloroethylene oxide and 2-chloroacetaldehyde, two possibly carcinogenic metabolities of vinyl chloride in mammals, caused a dose-dependent induction of 8-azaguanine- and ouabain-resistant mutants in Chinese hamster V79 cells in vitro. Up to one-hundred-fold higher concentrations of 2-chloroethanol or monochloroacetic acid, a urinary vinyl chloride metabolite in rats and man, were inactive.