NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
In vitro cytogenetic studies of organic chemicals found as contaminants in spacecraft cabin atmospheresAstronauts can be exposed during spaceflight to organic chemical contaminants in the spacecraft cabin atmosphere. Toxic exposures may cause lesions in the cellular DNA which are subsequently expressed as sister-chromatid exchanges (SCE). Analysis of SCE is a sensitive short-term assay technique to detect and quantitate exposures to DNA-damaging (mutagenic) substances. The increase in SCE incidence over baseline (control) levels is generally proportional to the concentration of the mutagen and to the duration of exposure. Dichloromethane (methylene chloride) was chosen for this study since it occurred as an atmospheric contaminant in ten of the first 12 STS flights, and has been reported to have toxic and mutagenic effects in various test systems. Glutaraldehyde was chosen because relatively few data are available on the toxicity or mutagenicity of this common biological fixative, which is carried on STS flights for use in biological experiments. The BHK-21 baby hamster kidney cell line was the in vitro test system used in this study. Neither dichloromethane (10 ppm to 500 ppm) nor glutaraldehyde (1 ppm to 10 ppm) increased SCE levels following 20-hour exposure of BHK-21 cells to the test chemicals.
Document ID
19860021961
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Torres, J.
(University of Southeastern Louisiana Hammond, LA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
July 1, 1986
Publication Information
Publication: NASA. Johnson Space Center NASA/American Society for Engineering Educatio
Subject Category
Environment Pollution
Accession Number
86N31433
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
Document Inquiry

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available