ATLA::Alternatives to Laboratory Animals

Volume 25, Number 5

In vitro cytotoxicity of texile dyes and extracts of dyed/finished fabrics.

ATLA 25, 539-546, September/October 1997

RPäivi Kopponen,^1,2 Mirkka Asikainen,³ Ritta Törrönen,¹ Kaisa Klemola,⁴ Jyrki Liesivouri⁵ and Sirpa Kärenlampi^3,6

¹Department of Physiology, ²Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, and ³Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Kuopio, P.O. Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland; ⁴Kuopio Academy of Crafts and Design, P.O. Box 98, 70101 Kuopio, Finland; ⁵Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, P.O. Box 93, 70701 Kuopio, Finland; ⁶Department of Biology, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland

SUMMARY

The aim of this study was to investigate whether an in vitro test can give an indication of the overall toxicity of fabric extracts, and whether this toxicity correlates with the toxicity of the dyes and finishes used. Thirteen textile dyes and dyed finished cotton fabrics were tested by using the Hepa-1 cytotoxicity test. Black sulphur and two blue reactive dyes were the most toxic, with IC50 (the concentration at which the total protein content was 50% of the protein content of non-exposed cells) values of 40-65µg ml. The least toxic dyes, the black and yellow mix reactive dyes, had IC50 values of 825µg/ml and 703µg/ml, respectively. There was no correlation between the toxicities of the dyes and the fabric extracts; the extract from naphthol-dyed fabric was the most cytotoxic. These results strongly support the hypothesis that the toxicity of a fabric extract cannot be predicted directly from the toxicity of the dye itself. The results also showed that flame-retardant and water/soil-repellent finishes can alter the cytotoxicity. In vitro tests, as exemplified by the Hepa-1 cytotoxicity test, could provide useful information for developing new ecotextiles.

Keywords: cotton, fabric extract, cell line, cytotoxicity, dyes