Chronic exposure of industrial grade calcium carbide and ethylene glycol exert genotoxic effect in Wistar albino rats.

Objectives: Calcium carbide (CaC) and ethylene glycol (EG) are the two commonly used fruit ripening agents. The toxic effects of these chemicals on internal organs were reported in experimental animals. Even though the adverse effects of these compounds have been investigated for many years, there are no sufficient data available with regard to genotoxic effects. The present study evaluates the genotoxic effect of chronic exposures of CaC and EG in Wistar albino rats.

Methods: CaC and EG were administered to the rats orally for 180 days. Chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei formation were analysed in bone marrow and peripheral blood cells. Comet assay was performed to analyse the DNA strand break. The toxic effects of the chemicals were analysed by MTT assay with normal human intestinal epithelial (IEC-6) cells.

Results: Upon chronic exposure, CaC and EG caused chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei formation and  DNA strand breaks extensively in bone marrow and peripheral blood cells. In MTT assay, the chemicals were found to be toxic to IEC-6 cells with IC values at 160 and 200 μg/mL for CaC and EG, respectively.

Conclusions: The results show that these chemicals have a potential to cause genomic level of toxicity which may lead to carcinogenic event at a chronic level exposure. The study warns to reinforce the administrative measures against the use of CaC and EG for fruit ripening process.