[Chromosomal aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges and micronuclei induced in human lymphocytes by sodium bisulfite...

The frequencies of chromosomal aberrations (CA), sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) and micronuclei (MN) in human blood lymphocytes exposed to sodium bisulfite (sulfur dioxide) at varies concentrations ranging from 5 x 10(-5) to 2 x 10(-3) mol/L in vitro were studied. It was shown that sodium bisulfite (NaHSO3 and Na2SO3, 1:3 mol/L) caused an increase in SCE and MN of human blood lymphocytes in a dose-dependent manner, and also induced mitotic delays and decreased mitotic index of the lymphocytes. For CA, our results indicated that sodium bisulfite induced an increase of chromatid-type aberrations of the lymphocytes from three of four donors in a dose-dependent manner. The chemical at low concentrations induced chromatid-type aberrations but not chromosome-type aberrations; at high concentrations induced-both chromatid and chromosome-type aberrations of lymphocytes. No cytogenetic effects of sodium bisulfite on the human blood lymphocytes were observed in these assays. The results have confirmed that sulfur dioxide is a clastogenic and genotoxic agent.