Review of the genotoxicity of 2-butoxyethanol

The available data on the genotoxicity of 2-butoxyethanol have been reviewed. 2-Butoxyethanol has been examined for genotoxic activity in a range of in vitro and in vivo assays, including the mouse bone marrow micronucleus assay. The in vitro assays used range from well validated and generally accepted assays such as the Salmonella/microsome and in vitro cytogenetic assay, through to less well validated assays such as assessment of the inhibition of metabolic cooperation in V79 cells. The levels of experimental details and data reporting vary across the studies with some papers presenting only limited information. Taking the above factors into consideration, the available data indicate that 2-butoxyethanol has no significant genotoxic activity. This conclusion is also consistent with the chemical structure of 2-butoxyethanol, which is not alerting for likely genotoxic activity. These collected considerations indicate that 2-butoxyethanol is unlikely to be a genotoxic carcinogen to rodents, a prediction that supplements seventeen published predictions of the outcome of the ongoing NTP rodent carcinogenicity bioassays. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.