Mutagenicity of activated carbon adsorbate of drinking water in the Ames assay.

Mutagenicity of activated carbon adsorbate from drinking water collected in Niigata City was assayed by the Ames assay. Adsorbate was extracted from activated carbon with benzene, and then with ethanol. Although the benzene extract was not mutagenic, the ethanol one showed the mutagenic activity for Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100 with and without S9 mix. The ethanol extract was much more mutagenic on TA100 than TA98 both with and without S9 mix. The mutagenic activity per liter of water was found to be the strongest in winter and the weakest in summer.