title: Evaluation of the genotoxic potential of single-wall carbon nanotubes by using a battery of in vitro and in vivo genotoxicity assays.
abstract: The genotoxic potential of a high purity sample of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) was evaluated using a battery of in vitro and in vivo genotoxicity assays. These comprised a bacterial reverse mutation test (Ames test), an in vitro chromosomal aberration test, and an in vivo mouse bone marrow micronucleus test. The SWCNTs exerted no genotoxicity in Salmonella typhimurium TA97, TA98, TA100, and TA1535, or in Escherichia coli WP2 uvrA/pKM101, whether in the absence or presence of metabolic activation and at concentrations of 12.5-500 μg/plate. In the chromosomal aberration test, at 300-1000 μg/mL, the SWCNTs did not increase the number of structural or numerical chromosomal aberrations, whether the test was conducted with or without metabolic activation. In the in vivo bone marrow micronucleus test, doses of 60 mg/kg and 200mg/kg SWCNTs did not affect the proportions of immature and total erythrocytes, nor did it increase the number of micronuclei in the immature erythrocytes of mice. The results of these studies show that the high purity and well-dispersed sample of SWCNTs are not genotoxic under the conditions of the in vitro bacterial reverse mutation assay, chromosomal aberration assay, or in vivo bone marrow micronucleus test, and thus appear not to pose a genotoxic risk to human health in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Ibaraki, Japan. masato.naya@aist.go.jp
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naya
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: Kyomu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ema
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001711:Biotransformation; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000139:chemically induced; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D004913:Erythrocytes, Abnormal / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D015162:Micronucleus Tests / Q000379:methods; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D009154:Mutation; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000633:toxicity*; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon