Introduction to a new review category

Abstract

Mutation spectra of complex mixtures or simple binary mixtures have been determined thus far only in Salmonella. This review summarizes these studies, which have involved a variety of complex mixtures, chemical fractions of the mixtures, and single compounds that are representative of the primary chemical classes within the mixtures. For the particulate organics from urban air and municipal waste incinerator emissions, cigarette smoke condensate, and organic extracts of chlorinated drinking water, the mutation spectrum of the mixture reflected the dominance of one or a few chemical classes within the mixture. The mutation spectra of sunlight and cigarette smoke in Salmonella were similar to those found in the p53 gene of skin or lung tumors in people associated with exposure to these two mutagens. These data provide possible mechanistic links between the types of mutations induced by complex environmental mutagens in an experimental organism (Salmonella) and the types of mutations found in humans exposed to the same environmental mutagens. The primary class of mutation produced by many mutagens within a chemical class (and even among different classes) is frequently the same. These studies indicate that, to some extent, complex mixture-induced mutation spectra can be modeled by the predominant mutagenic chemical class in that mixture and even by a single model compound in that chemical class. Such information should be useful in the interpretation of mutation spectra in molecular epidemiological studies where the exposure is primarily to a complex mixture.