The need for a mammalian test system for mutagens: action of some reducing agents.

Reducing agents and cysteine, cysteamine, glutathione, ascorbic acid and H2O2 with and without the addition of Cu2+ did not increase significantly the frequency of mutations in the Salmonella test at non-toxic concentrations but triggered a marked DNA repair synthesis and induced a relatively high frequency of chromosome aberrations in cultured mammalian cells. Both latter effects were reduced by the addition of catalase to solutions of the reducing agents plus Cu2+. To avoid 'False Negatives' in mutagenicity screening the use of several test subjects including mammalian cells seems to be required.