Mutagenic activity of N-chloropiperidine.

The toxicity and mutagenicity of N-chloropiperidine (NCP) and piperidine (PD) were tested in C57Bl/J6 mice and in Salmonella tester strains. Toxicity studies, based on single intraperitoneal administration of the test compounds, revealed that while the toxic effect of PD in aqueous solution decreased with time, the toxicity of aqueous solution of NCP increased on standing at room temperature for 24 or more hr. Direct incorporation assay of NCP and PD for mutagenic activity, using Salmonella tester strains as the test system, showed that the number of revertants induced by NCP was about 2.4 fold of that induced by PD. The results further indicated that TA100 and TA1535 were the most sensitive strains. A modified host-mediated assay, involving the analysis of urine, peritoneal fluid and faecal material from control and NCP-treated mice, indicated that peritoneal fluid from treated animals generated more revertants; moderate levels of revertants were produced by faecal material and urinary and urinary preparations produced the least number of revertants.