In vitro clastogenicity and phototoxicity of fullerene (C60) nanomaterials in mammalian cells

Carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and fullerenes (C60) are widely used in industry. Because of human health concerns, their toxic potential has been examined in vivo and in vitro. Here we used mammalian cells to examine the in vitro clastogenicity as well as the phototoxicity of C60. While C60 induced no structural chromosome aberrations in CHL/IU cells at up to 5 mg/ml (the maximum concentration tested), it significantly induced polyploidy at 2.5 and 5 mg/ml with and without metabolic activation. In BALB 3T3 cells, C60 showed no phototoxic potential but the anatase form of titanium oxide did. Since insoluble nanomaterials cause polyploidy by blocking cytokinesis rather than by damaging DNA, we concluded that the polyploidy induced by C60 in CHL/IU cells was probably due to non-DNA interacting mechanisms.