Genotoxicity of anthraquinone dyes and dye intermediates: a comprehensive review

Anthraquinone dyes and dye intermediates are widely used across industrial, pharmaceutical, and biological applications. Despite evidence that both synthetic and naturally occurring anthraquinones may exhibit genotoxic effects, a complete assessment of their genotoxic potential is currently lacking. This review provides a comprehensive evaluation of genotoxicity data for anthraquinone dyes and dye intermediates derived from bacterial assays, mammalian in vitro systems, and in vivo models. Data from studies assessing gene mutation, chromosomal damage, DNA damage, and DNA repair were integrated. Genotoxic activity was common but substance-specific and frequently confined to particular endpoints or strains rather than consistent across the test battery. Of the 63 anthraquinones evaluated, ten including 1-amino-2-methyl-anthraquinone, 2-aminoanthraquinone, aloe emodin, chrysazin, emodin, Disperse Blue 3, Disperse Blue 7, Disperse Red 11, rubiadin and Acid Blue 62 showed consistent evidence of genotoxic activity, whereas carminic acid can be considered non-genotoxic on the available evidence. For many compounds the evidence remained insufficient to draw definitive conclusions, highlighting the need for further studies conducted in accordance with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines.