 we examined t - butylhydroquinone ( t - bhq ) and t - butylquinone ( t - buq ) , two of the major microsomal metabolites of the synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxyanisole ( bha ) , for their ability to react with the xenobiotic arylamines aniline and n - methylaniline . 
 a number of substances were isolated by thin - layer chromatography . 
 the main products were quantitatively evaluated and their structures assigned . 
 bha and t - bhq yielded reaction products with anilines only in the presence of an oxidant such as iodate ( kio3 ) . 
 we used the salmonella / microsome mutagenicity assay to test the new compounds for mutagenic activity . 
 the reaction products gave no evidence of mutagenicity in the s. typhimurium strains ta98 and ta100 , with or without metabolic activation . 
 in some instances the substituted quinone products are less toxic than t - buq alone.imagesfigure 1 . 
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