Elucidation of the role of vinyl chloride metabolites in the various reaction sequences which comprise the metabolic pathway, including the interaction of reactive metabolites with some purine and pyrimidine residues of target-organ DNA, provides some explanation for the (oncogenic) properties associated with the original substance. Comparative investigation of the biological fate of vinylidene chloride reveals an agent of low oncogenic potential which is likely to be damaging only under special circumstances, and species differences which suggest that the mouse is more susceptible than the rat towards vinylidene chloride oncogenicity.The research work with which this communication is concerned is based on the idea that knowledge of the biology of the reactive metabolites of chemical carcinogens in the mammal, including the precise nature of the chemical changes to the DNA of the nucleus, ought to give an insight into the (oncogenic) properties of the parent compounds.In tracer studies, N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxymethyl)-cysteine was shown to be a major vinyl chloride metabolite in rats, but according to the method of protective esterification that was used so a derivative either of N-acetyl-S-(2-chloroethyl)cysteine or of N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxyethyl)cysteine was isolated from body fluids (1, 2). Thus, by Fischer-Speier methylation,N-acetyl-S-(2-chloroethyl)cysteine was obtained, and with diazomethane, N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxyethyl)cysteine. It might be stated in passing that throughout the investigations described, mass spectrometry, involving electron impact (El) and chemical ionization sources and multiple-ion detection and all combinations of these facilities, was used extensively both for product identification and analysis and for the purposes of detection. Treatment of the 0-methyl ester of