A method involving on-line reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry detection has been developed for the analysis of 1,N(2)-etheno-2'-deoxyguanosine in DNA. This methodology permits direct quantification of 20 fmol (7.4 adducts/10(8) dGuo) of the etheno adduct from approximately 350 microg of crude DNA hydrolysate. Using the newly developed technique, basal levels of 1,N(2)-etheno-2'-deoxyguanosine were determined in commercial calf thymus DNA (1.70 +/- 0.09 adducts/10(7) dGuo), in cultured mammalian cells (CV1-P) DNA (4.5 +/- 0.4 adducts/10(7) dGuo), and in untreated female rat liver DNA (5.22 +/- 1.37 adduct/10(7) dGuo). The mutagenicity of 1,N(2)-etheno-2'-deoxyguanosine had already been demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo systems. The method described here provides the first evidence of the occurrence of 1,N(2)-etheno-2'-deoxyguanosine as a basal endogenous lesion and may be usefully employed to assess the biological consequences of etheno DNA damage under normal and pathological conditions.