Abstract

One of the most important ecological problems is mutagenic pollution in the environment, and the determination of mutagenic compounds in environmental samples is of special interest. In the current article, a review of the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) based methods published so far for the determination of mutagens in the environment is presented. Mutagens included in this review are polycyclic aromatic compounds, heterocyclic aromatic amine compounds, azo dyes, aldehydes and pesticides. Advanced aspects of current analysis of mutation research using LC/MS, including analysis of urinary metabolites of mutagens and DNA modification, are also discussed.

Keywords: LC/MS, Mutagens, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Heterocyclic aromatic amine compounds, Metabolites, DNA adduct, Environmental analysis