Special committee report, Part I: An evaluation of current testing approaches for the detection of chemically induced aneuploidy.

Abstract

Evaluation of scientific data to determine the likelihood that a particular chemical may pose a health risk is a major function of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In certain legislative mandates (e.g., Toxic Substances Control Act), mutagenicity is identified as a toxicological endpoint for which testing standards must be developed. Thus, the EPA must make decisions on testing methods for mutagenicity. Most genetic toxicology tests identify chemicals that cause gene mutations, chromosome breakage and rearrangement, or other forms of direct DNA damage. Because DNA is not necessarily the target for the induction of numerical chromosome mutations, induction of aneuploidy may not correlate with the induction of other types of genetic alterations. Tests designed specifically to detect aneuploidy should be included in a screening or testing program to better characterize the potential genetic (or carcinogenic) hazard of a chemical.KeywordsEnvironmental Protection AgencyCarbamate EthylMethyl MethanesulfonateFemale Germ CellMammalian Somatic CellThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.