Mutagenicity of acid orange 52 (AO52) and its degradation products by Pseudomonas putida mt-2 was evaluated with the use of Salmonella Typhimurium TA102 and TA104 with and without the metabolic activation system (S9). No mutagenicity was observed in the absence of S9 and in the presence of S9 for biodegradation under shaking conditions, but it increased significantly in the presence of S9 after biodegradation under static conditions. In addition, the ability of tested compounds to induce DNA damage in vitro was evaluated with the DNA strand scission assay. The toxicity generated by the pure azo dye and the corresponding azoreduction products (4-aminobenzenesulfonic acid and N,N'-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine) were compared. We suggest that the mutagenicity mechanism of these molecules occurs through free radical generation processes. In this study, we demonstrate that P. putida mt-2 incubated under aerobic conditions undergoes catabolism that enables it to degrade AO52 completely and, especially, to detoxify the dye mixtures.