Lack of genotoxicity with acrylate polymers in five short-term mutagenicity assays.

Two linear polymers of acrylic acid (average molecular weight = 2,000 and 4,500) and one linear copolymer of acrylic and maleic acids (average molecular weight = 12,000) were tested for mutagenicity with the Salmonella mammalian microsome assay, the L5178Y mouse lymphoma assay at the TK locus, an unscheduled DNA synthesis assay in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes, and either an in vitro cytogenetic assay with CHO cells or the bone marrow micronucleus assay in mice. The results of all the assays were uniformly negative for the three polymers.