Comparative and environmental genotoxicity of antimony and arsenic.

Antimony and arsenic compounds are known to have a genotoxic potential. Soil contamination with these elements can be due to the presence of natural ore sources of fahlore (gray copper). As a result, human and animal populations may be highly exposed. The sister chromatid exchange (SCE) test is an adequate tool for the sensitive detection of antimony and arsenic genotoxicity. We used this assay to investigate the coergism of the two elements in vitro to gain data for the assessment of a putative risk from coexposure. The combinative effect of antimony and arsenic in the SCE test appeared subadditive. Additionally, the SCE served to determine the genotoxic potential in extracts of contaminated fahlore soil samples gained under mildly acidic conditions. The genotoxicity observed was very low because antimony and arsenic predominated in the pentavalent, non-genotoxic state, but, the partial antagonism observed in the in vitro experiments could be an additional explanation for the low genotoxicity.