Mutagenic potential of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) and its hydrolysis-derived products in the Ames Salmonella assay

Abstract

The mutagenicity of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE), its first and second hydrolysis products (the diol epoxide and bis-diol of BADGE, respectively) and the bis-chlorohydrin of BADGE were investigated using the Ames Salmonella assay with strains TA98, TA100, TA1535 and TA1537. The assays were performed in the absence and presence of various concentrations of rat liver S9 fraction. The results obtained confirm the mutagenic power of BADGE in strains TA100 and TA1535 and show a positive response to the diol epoxide of BADGE in these strains, although the latter compound was ∼10 times less potent than the former. A lack of mutagenic activity of the bis-diol of BADGE and the chlorohydrin under study is also shown. These findings suggest that BADGE and, to a much lesser extent, the diol epoxide of BADGE may constitute a genotoxic hazard, but not the bis-diol or bis-chlorohydrin of BADGE.