DNA damage: chemistry, repair, and mutagenic potential.

This paper is an overview on the chemical and biochemical effects of three different human carcinogens on DNA in vitro in terms of adducts, their effect on replication, in vitro and in vivo, and their repair by enzymes from human cells. The carcinogenic compounds chosen for specific discussion are N-nitroso alkylating agents: the vinyl chloride metabolite, chloroacetaldehyde (CAA), and the benzene metabolite, p-benzoquinone (p-BQ).