There is no clear evidence from in vitro studies that carbon disulfide is genotoxic (Environment Canada & Health
Canada, 2000). In several studies in bacteria, carbon disulfide did not
induce point mutations in Salmonella
typhimurium or in Escherichia coli, both with and without metabolic activation. In studies of mammalian cells
exposed to carbon disulfide in the presence of metabolic activation, there
were small and/or equivocal increases in chromatid gaps in human lymphocytes,
in unscheduled DNA synthesis in diploid WI-38 cells derived from human
embryonic lung tissue, and in sister chromatid exchanges in human lymphocytes.
In one study (Le & Fu, 1996), in human sperm exposed to carbon disulfide
in vitro, there was a significant increase in
the frequency of chromosomal aberrations and in the frequency of chromosomal
breaks.
Available in vivo data on the genotoxicity of carbon disulfide are
limited. In male and female rats inhaling 63 or 125 mg carbon
disulfide/m3, 7 h/day for 1 or 5 days, there was no significant increase in the
frequency of chromosomal aberrations in bone marrow cells (Belisles et al., 1980). In contrast, Vasil'eva (1982) reported that oral exposure to carbon
disulfide induced chromosomal aberrations and polyploid cells in the bone
marrow of female rats and in rat embryos exposed on days 10-13 of gestation.
It is difficult to assess the validity of these findings, as the reporting
was brief (e.g., the statistical significance was often not indicated) and the effective dose was not reported, except to indicate that it was one-tenth of the LD50.
When male rats were exposed to 63-125 mg carbon disulfide/m3, 7 h/day for 5 days, there was no significant increase in dominant lethal
mutations, nor was there a dose-related increase in sperm abnormalities
in rats or mice exposed according to the same protocol (Belisles et al., 1980), although lack of an effect on sperm abnormalities in positive control
rats undermines somewhat the significance of these observations.
References
ELe JY, Fu XM (1996) Human sperm chromosome analysis ? study on human
sperm chromosome mutagens induced by carbon disulfide. Biomedical and Environmental
Sciences, 9: 37-40.
EBelisles RP, Brusick DJ, Melcher FJ (1980) Teratogenic-mutagenic risk of
workplace contaminants: trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, and carbon
disulphide. Report prepared by Litton Bionetics Inc. for the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH, May (NTIS
PB82-185075).
EVasil'eva IA (1982) Investigation of the action of carbon disulfide on
the chromosome apparatus of adult and embryonic rat cells. Tsitologiya i
Genetica, 16(2): 57-59. |