Previous studies have demonstrated marked differences in the capacity of hepatocytes from rats or hamsters to mediate the metabolic activation of chemical carcinogens to genotoxic (ie, mutagenic) products. Thus far, very few investigations of species differences in DNA repair have been performed. Therefore, a comparison of the relative extent of DNA repair elicited by various genotoxic chemicals in rat and hamster hepatocytes was conducted, using the hepatocyte primary culture/DNA repair (HPC/DR) assay. Of the 11 chemicals tested, eight were more potent in inducing DNA repair in hamster hepatocytes than in rat hepatocytes. Dimethylnitrosamine, diethylnitrosamine, 2-acetylaminofluorene, 9aminoacridine, pararosaniline hydrochloride, l-naphthylamine, benzidine and 1,2:3,4-diepoxybutane were all active in hamster hepatocytes at a concentration at least ten times less than the lowest effective concentration in rat hepatocytes. The direct-acting alkylating agent, methylmethane sulfonate, was equipotent in inducing DNA repair in both rat and hamster hepatocytes, indicating that the differences in DNA repair observed for the other chemicals were probably not a result of species differences in DNA repair capacities. In contrast, l-nitropyrene produced a greater DNA repair response in rat hepatocytes than hamster hepatocytes, while the bacterial mutagen 3-(chloromethyl)pyridine hydrochloride was inactive in both hepatocyte systems. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of using hamster hepatocytes in the HPC/DR assay and illustrate the utility of performing the assay with hepatocytes from more than one species.