Abstract
Aqueous 3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole (BHA) and 3, 5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxytoluene (BHT) solutions, as antioxidants, were treated with chlorine under various experimental conditions. Diethyl ether extracts from the chlorinated waters were determined by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for their product distributions, and for their mutagenic effects on TA98 and TA100 strains with and without S9 mix. Chlorination of BHA in aqueous solution produced oxidative and dealkylation compounds, as major products and their chlorine-substituted compounds, as minor one. On the other hand, chlorination of BHT in aqueous solution gave hydroxylated BHT (BHT-OH), as major product and chlorine-substituted compounds, as minor one. Aqueous chlorination of BHA solution also produced the compound (s) with a weak mutagenic response on the TA100 in the absence of S9 mix, but no mutagenic effect was detected for the aqueous chlorination products of BHT. The formation of some of these compounds is dependent on the equivalents of chlorine per mole of compound and the reaction pH.
