VICIA-FABA CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATION ASSAY

A collaborative study involving laboratories in six countries was init iated under the sponsorship of the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) to determine the sensitivity, efficiency and reliabilit y of the Vicia faba root tip meristem chromosomal aberration assay usi ng a standardized protocol. The six laboratories that participated in this study were located in the Slovak Republic, India, Japan, Poland, Sweden and the USA. All laboratories adhered to a standardized protoco l for the Vicia faba chromosomal aberration assay. Four coded chemical s, azidoglycerol (AG), N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), sodium azide (NaN 3) and maleic hydrazide (MH) were tested with the Vicia faba chromosom al aberration assay. Of the four chemicals, three (MH, AG and MNU) wer e found to be clastogenic and gave a concentration related response. H owever, the results of NaN3 were equivocal which might be explained by the stability of NaN3. The conclusions from this study suggest that t he Vicia faba chromosomal aberration bioassay is an efficient and reli able short-term bioassay for the rapid screening of chemicals for clas togenicity.