[Mutagenic and carcinogenic action of antimicrobial surface-active substances]

The study on the mutagenic activity of commercial synthetic cationic, anionic, amphoteric and nonionogenic surface active substances with antimicrobial properties demonstrated that they had no mutagenic effect on the microbial test systems, i.e. the histidine-deficient strains of Salmonella typhimurium on direct contact and under conditions of metabolic activation in vitro and in vivo. The cationoactive preparation B Kh-14 with the benzyl radical adjoining the nitrogen atom and linear hydrophobic C13H27 with the amide group having a pronounced antimicrobial effect on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and fungi showed no carcinogenic activity in the experiments with its long-term action on the urinary bladder mucosa and skin of rats, guinea-pigs and dogs.