Some typical applications of fluorescence techniques in chemical carcinogenesis research are reviewed. These applications include: the kinetics of metabolism, fluorometric identification of the metabolically generated reactive diol epoxide derivatives which bind to cellular macromolecules, quantitative determination of the level of binding of these carcinogens to cellular DNA, and physico-chemical studies of the conformational properties of the carcinogenic moieties bound to DNA, and the relationships between the properties of the adducts and biological activity. It is shown that in many of these fluorometric applications it is important to first establish the intrinsic fluorescence properties of the bound polycyclic fluorophores, as well as the chemical stabilities of the adducts in the presence of light.