Genotoxic effects of glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride.

Evaluation of the genotoxicity of epoxides is best carried out on a case by case basis. Although glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTAC) is widely used in several industrial applications, its genotoxicity is poorly documented. Therefore, we have evaluated GTAC in a battery of 4 in vitro short-term tests for genotoxicity. We report here that GTAC mediates the induction of base-pair substitutions in S. typhimurium, gene conversion in S. cerevisiae (D7), chromosomal aberrations in CHO cells and viral DNA amplification in Chinese hamster CO6O cells. In view of these results, it is advisable to consider GTAC a potential carcinogen.