Local contact among workers exposed to ECH has resulted in several severe skin burns and burns to the eyes and nasal mucosa (Hine and Rowe, 1968; Ippen and Mathies, 1970; Wexler, 1971). A study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (1976) reported that workers exposed to ECH experienced burning nose and throat, coughing, chest congestion, runny nose, eye tenderness, headache, total white blood cell count, and hemoglobin levels. Variety. In a recent study, Robinson et al. (1995) reported that acute exposure of rats to 100 ppm of ECH for 4 hours resulted in no histopathological evidence of liver and kidney toxicity. Exposure to ECH caused sterility in mice and rats (Cooper et al., 1974; Sram et al., 1976). Venable et al. (1980) observed no adverse effects on fertility in male employees engaged in the manufacture of glycerol. It has been found to be carcinogenic in animal models (Van Duuren et al., 1974; Konishi et al., 1980; Laskin et al., 1980). In a case-control study, Barbone et al. (1992) assessed the relationship between lung cancer and epichlorohydrin occupational factors among dye and resin manufacturing employers. They included 51 lung cancer cases and 102 controls who were members of a group of workers surveyed in a previous retrospective follow-up study. Elevated odds ratios for lung cancer were observed for subjects working in the anthraquinone dye and epichlorohydrin manufacturing areas of the plant. In a resin and dye manufacturing plant, Barbone et al. (1994) also reported that routine potential exposure to ECH was associated with central nervous system tumors. A dose-response relationship was found with duration and cumulative routine potential exposure to ECH. The use of this epoxy in various industrial and laboratory applicants is a concern for human health (Manson, 1980; Ehrenberg and Hussain, 1981). We have been working on the in vitro and in vivo mutagenic and mutagenic effects of different aliphatic epoxides, drugs and chemicals (Giri et al., 1989; Giri et al., 1990; Giri, 1992; Giri, 1993 ; Giri, 1995; Sinsheimer et al., 1993). Due to the carcinogenicity of ECH in experimental animals, we recognized the need to evaluate the mutagenic and genotoxic effects of this compound. In this review, an attempt has been made to evaluate and update the mutagenic and clastogenic effects of ECH based on the existing literature.