Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of butyl cyclohexyl phthalate

Butyl cyclohexyl phthalate (BCP) is frequently used in personal care products, medical and household applications. The aim of this study is therefore to evaluate possible cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of BCP using in vitro and in vivo assays. The in vitro cytotoxic effect of BCP was investigated on mouse fibroblastic cell line (L929 cells) by MTT assay. The result showed that BCP inhibits cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner (IC₅₀ value = 0.29 µg/mL). For genotoxicity assessment, tested concentrations of BCP demonstrated mutagenic activity in the presence of S9 mix with the Salmonella strain TA100 in the Ames test. Results showed that BCP is a secondary mutagenic substance even in low concentrations. The data obtained from 28-days repeated toxicity tests on mice revealed that BCP caused abnormalities of chromosome number, in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, DNA damage, particularly DNA strand breaks, was assessed by Comet assay. The test result shows that BCP seemed to have genotoxic potential at a high level of exposure.