Clastogenicity of 2-chlorobenzylidene malonitrile (CS) in V79 Chinese hamster cells.

The clastogenicity of the sensory irritant 2-chlorobenzylidene malonitrile (CS) to V79 Chinese hamster cells was investigated at various exposure conditions. CS efficiently induced chromatid-type aberrations in a dose-dependent manner provided the cells could run through at least one or two S-phases during a 20-h exposure over a 3-h exposure followed by a 20-h recovery period (cell cycle time 8-10 h). The induction of SCEs indicates an S-dependent mechanism. The hydrolysis products o-chlorobenzaldehyde and malonitrile were inactive in these experiments.