Geosmin (GEO) (trans-1,10-dimethyl-trans-9-decalol) is a metabolite that renders earthy and musty taste and odor to water. Data of GEO genotoxicity on mammalian cells are scarce in the literature. Thus, the present study assessed the genotoxicity of GEO on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in the microplate-based comet assay. The percent of tail DNA (tail intensity (TI)), tail moment (TM), and tail length (TL) were used as parameters for DNA damage assessment. The results demonstrated that concentrations of GEO of 30 and 60 μg/mL were genotoxic to CHO cells after 4- and 24-h exposure periods, in all parameters evaluated, such as TI, TM, and TL. Additionally, GEO 15 μg/mL was genotoxic in the three parameters only in the 24-h exposure time. The same was observed for GEO 7.5 μg/mL, which induced significant DNA damage observed as TI in the 24-h treatment. The results present evidence that exposure to GEO may be associated with genomic instability in mammalian cells.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.