Mutagenic evaluation of the hair-dye component 2,4-diaminophenoxyethanol in Salmonella typhimurium/microsome plate test and Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains D4 and XV185-14C.

The hair-dye coupler 2,4-diaminophenoxyethanol was tested for mutagenicity in the histidine-requiring mutants of Salmonella typhimurium (TA1535, TA100, TA1537, TA1538 and TA98). The tests were carried out in the absence and presence of uninduced as well as an Aroclor-1254-induced rat-liver microsomal activation system. In the absence and presence of uninduced S9 this compound was not mutagenic in all strains used. Negative results were also obtained in the presence of an Aroclor-1254-induced rat-liver microsomal activation system. The mutagenic activity of this compound was also investigated in 2 systems of yeast, the gene conversion system with strain D4 and the reversion system with strain XV185-14C. In the absence and presence of metabolic activation, no mutagenic effect was observed.