Mutagenicity of the human carcinogen treosulphan in Salmonella

The human carcinogen treosulphan was mutagenic in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and TA1535, as was dl-1,2:3,4-diepoxybutane (DEB), a proposed hydrolysis product of treosulphan. Another proposed hydrolysis product, methane- sulfonic acid, was not mutagenic in these strains. The pattern of the mutagenic responses at pH 6,7, and 8 to treosulphan and DEB suggests that DEB formation may be responsible for the mutagenicity of treosulphan.