Benzo[a]pyrene site of contact mutagenicity in skin of Muta®Mouse

Abstract

Benzo[a]pyrene (BP) has been investigated for the ability to induce mutation at the site of contact. Skin painting treatments with BP caused a time-dependant and statistically significant increase in mutation frequency (MF) in the treated areas of skin. The MF exceeded 500 x 10-6 21 days after either 1 x 25 or 5 x 5 μg treatments. Increases to > 700 x 10-6 were seen when doses of 1 x 50 or 5 x 10 μg were used. Neither the liver nor the lung showed any increase in mutation frequency after 21 days in animals exposed to the 5 x 10 μg treatment regime. It is concluded that following topical administration, BP is able to induce mutation in the skin at the site of application, but not in either the lung or liver.