Lung epithelial cell (cell line designated LEC) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were grown on hydrated collagen gels and exposed directly to toxic vapor‐phase pollutants. The cells were exposed to graded concentrations of phenol, formaldehyde, a volatile fraction of process stream material from an experimental coal gasifier, and the nonparticulate, vapor phase of diesel engine exhaust. During exposures, the cells were maintained at an air/collagen interface by removing the medium overlying the hydrated collagen gel. Morphological changes indicative of cell retraction were found in LEC cell cultures exposed to phenol, formaldehyde, or diesel exhaust Damage following exposure to the toxicants was quantitated in LEC and CHO cells by Trypan blue dye exclusion, a measure of plasma membrane integrity. Clone‐forming ability was also used to measure cell survival in CHO cells. When measured by Trypan blue dye exclusion, phenol (EC50 = 2.1 mg/l) caused membrane damage to LEC cells but not CHO cells, while formaldehyde (EC50–31 and 42 μg/l for LEC and CHO, respectively) and diesel exhaust (EC50 =11 and 29% of tailpipe exhaust in LEC and CHO cells, respectively) caused damage to both cell types. No cytotoxicity was observed in LEC or CHO cells exposed to the fraction from the coal gasifier. Essentially no mutagenic activity was associated with the exposure of CHO cells to formaldehyde or the vapor phase of diesel exhaust. Mutagenic activity was found in CHO cells exposed to ethylene oxide, the positive control. The results of this study indicate that mammalian cells grown on collagen gels can readily be exposed to vapors of chemicals and chemical mixtures. The cell exposure system may be generally useful in the analysis of toxic damage to mammalian cells resulting from gaseous or vapor‐phase pollutants.