Successful use of short-term tests for academic purposes: Their use in identification of new environmental carcinogens with possible risk for humans

Abstract

In the early 1970s, the short-term microbial mutation tests, particularly Ames' Salmonella test began to be used by workers in cancer research and environmental regulatory agencies (Ames, 1971; Ames et al., 1975; McCann et al., 1975). At that time, the public was much concerned with carcinogenesis resulting from pollution by chemical industries. Numerous new synthetic chemicals have been introduced into our environment and some of these were found to be carcinogenic to rodents and suspected to be carcinogenic to humans. These chemicals could not all be examined in long-term animal carcinogenesis experiments in rodents because of shortages of financial resources and more especially of qualified persons with the abifity to carry out the many necropsies and histological analyses required. So the introduction of short-term microbial mutation tests was very welcome in scientific circles. Earlier papers on the overlap of chemicals giving positive results for mutagenicity in short-term microbial mutation tests and showing carcinogenicity in long-term