Toxicity of Volatile Methylated Species of Bismuth, Arsenic, Tin, and Mercury in Mammalian CellsIn Vitro
Open Access
- 5 October 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Hindawi Limited in Journal of Toxicology
- Vol. 2011, 1-7
- https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/503576
Abstract
The biochemical transformation of mercury, tin, arsenic and bismuth through formation of volatile alkylated species performs a fundamental role in determining the environmental processing of these elements. While the toxicity of inorganic forms of most of these compounds are well documented (e.g., arsenic, mercury) and some of them are of relatively low toxicity (e.g., tin, bismuth), the more lipid-soluble organometals can be highly toxic. In the present study we investigated the cyto- and genotoxicity of five volatile metal(loid) compounds: trimethylbismuth, dimethylarsenic iodide, trimethylarsine, tetramethyltin, and dimethylmercury. As far as we know, this is the first study investigating the toxicity of volatile metal(loid) compoundsin vitro. Our results showed that dimethylmercury was most toxic to all three used cell lines (CHO-9 cells, CaCo, Hep-G2) followed by dimethylarsenic iodide. Tetramethyltin was the least toxic compound; however, the toxicity was also dependend upon the cell type. Human colon cells (CaCo) were most susceptible to the toxicity of the volatile compounds compared to the other cell lines. We conclude from our study that volatile metal(loid) compounds can be toxic to mammalian cells already at very low concentrations but the toxicity depends upon the metal(loid) species and the exposed cell type.This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Biotransformation of metal(loid)s by intestinal microorganismsPure and Applied Chemistry, 2010
- Parallel on-line detection of a methylbismuth species by hyphenated GC/EI-MS/ICP-MS technique as evidence for bismuth methylation by human hepatic cellsMetallomics, 2010
- Determination of Trimethylbismuth in the Human Body after Ingestion of Colloidal Bismuth SubcitrateDrug Metabolism and Disposition, 2008
- Subcellular Distribution of Inorganic and Methylated Arsenic Compounds in Human Urothelial Cells and Human HepatocytesDrug Metabolism and Disposition, 2008
- Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity of Arsenic in Rodents: A ReviewInternational Journal of Toxicology, 2006
- Comparative Inhibition of Yeast Glutathione Reductase by Arsenicals and ArsenothiolsChemical Research in Toxicology, 1997
- Occurrence of Volatile Metal and Metalloid Species in Landfill and Sewage GasesInternational Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, 1995
- Induction of DNA damage by dimethylarsine, a metabolite of inorganic arsenics, is for the major part likely due to its peroxyl radicalBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1990
- A simple technique for quantitation of low levels of DNA damage in individual cellsExperimental Cell Research, 1988
- Microelectrophoretic study of radiation-induced DNA damages in individual mammalian cellsBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1984