Some heterocyclic aromatic compounds are Ah receptor agonists in the DR-CALUX assay and the EROD assay with RTL-W1 cells.

Purpose: Heterocyclic aromatic compounds containing nitrogen, sulfur, or oxygen heteroatoms (NSO-HET) have been detected in air, soil, marine, and freshwater systems. However, only few publications are available investigating NSO-HET using in vitro bioassays. To support better characterization of environmental samples, selected NSO-HET were screened for dioxin-like activity in two bioassays.