Mutagenicity of diallate, sulfallate, and triallate and relationship between structure and mutagenic effects of carbamates used widely in agriculture.

In an investigation of the mutagenic properties of 20 carbamate herbicides and fungicides by use of the Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity test as developed by Ames et al. (Mutation Res., 31: 347-364, 1975), we have found that three thiocarbamate compounds, diallate, sulfallate and triallate, are mutagenic in the presence of a liver microsomal fraction on strains TA1535 and TA100. This indicates that the metabolic products of these thiocarbamates are causing base-pair substitutions. Since the 2-chloro-allyl group is common to the three mutagenic compounds but is not common to the 17 nonmutagenic compounds, a metabolic derivative of this group is probably responsible for the mutagenic activity.