Effects of metals in in vitro bioassays

The capacity of in vitro bioassays to detect the potential carcinogenicity of metal compounds is reviewed. The in vitro bioassays discussed include: bacterial reversion analysis to determine the capacity of metal salts to revert Salmonella typhimurium histidine auxotrophs or to revert Escherichia coli WP 2 tryp- to tryptophan prototrophy; examination of the ability of metal salts to preferentially inhibit cell growth in Bacillus subtilis cells deficient in DNA repair pathways; determination of the ability of metal salts to induce resistance to base analogs in mammalian cells; the capacity of metal salts to enhance viral transformation of mammalian cells or to transform cells in the absence of virus; and the ability of metal salts to induce chromosomal aberrations in mammalian cells. Using each of these in vitro bioassays, diverse metal compounds have been identified as potential carcinogens. Furthermore, the use of different compounds of a specific metal may allow a determination of the valence which may be required for carcinogenesis.