Genotoxicity of micro- and nano-particles of kaolin in human primary dermal keratinocytes and fibroblasts.

Introduction: Kaolin is a clay mineral with the chemical composition AlSiO(OH). It is an important industrial material, and is also used as a white cosmetic pigment. We previously reported that fine particles of kaolin have genotoxic potency to Chinese hamster ovary CHO AA8 cells, and to the lungs of C57BL/6 J and ICR mice.