We investigated the biological effects of the long-lived radicals induced following neutron irradiation. It has been reported that radiation-induced long-lived radicals were scavenged by post-irradiation treatment of ascorbic acid (Koyama, 1998). We studied the effects of ascorbic acid acting as a long-lived radical scavenger on cell killing and mutagenicity in Chinese hamster ovary cells against thermal neutrons, produced at the Kyoto University Research reactor. Ascorbic acid was added to cells 30 min after neutron irradiation and removed 150 min after irradiation. The biological end point of cell survival was measured by colony formation assay. The mutagenicity was measured by the mutant frequency in the HPRT locus. The post-irradiation treatment of ascorbic acid did not alter the cell killing effect of neutron radiation. However, the mutagenicity was decreased, especially when the cells were irradiated with boron. Our results suggested that ascorbic acid scavenged long-lived radicals effectively and caused apparent protective effects against mutagenicity of boron neutron capture therapy. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.