IN VITRO AND IN VIVO GENETIC TOXICOLOGY STUDIES WITH BIS\[2-(DIMETHYLAMINO)ETHYL] ETHER

Bis\[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]ether (DMAEE;CAS no. 3033-62-3), an industrial chemical, was investigated for potential genotoxicity by in vitro and in vivo tests. No mutagenic activity occurred in vitro in a Salmonella typhimurium reverse assay with strains TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537, and TA1538, or in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell forward gene mutation assay (HGPRT locus), with or without metabolic activation. In a CHO sister chromatid exchange (SCE) test, although weak activity was seen, there was no clear doseresponse relationship, the effect was not replicated in duplicate cultures, and in the presence of metabolic activity statistical significance was only noted when the data from replicate cultures were combined. DMAEE did not stimulate unscheduled DNA synthesis in cultured rat hepatocytes, expressed as either nuclear or DNA-bound 3H-thymidine. A peripheral blood mouse micronucleus test (DMAEE at 45, 90, and 145 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) showed no increase in micronucleated polychromatophilic ery...