Hvdroquinone: Assessment of genotoxic potential in the alkaline comet assay.

Hydroquinone (HQ) exposure is common as it is a natural component of plant-based foods and is used in some fingernail polishes, hair dyes, and skin lighteners. Industrially it is used as an antioxidant, polymerization inhibitor, and reducing agent. The current study was undertaken to determine whether HQ may cause DNA damage in an comet assay in F344 rats. DNA strand breaks were assessed in the duodenum as a direct tissue contact site, the testes, and the liver and kidneys, which were tumor sites in bioassays. Rats were exposed to HQ by gavage at 0, 105, 210, or 420 mg/kg/day. At all dose levels, mean % tail intensity and tail moment values for all tissues in animals given HQ were similar to the control. There were no statistically significant increases in tail intensity in any tissue following HQ treatment of male and female rat and data for all animals fell within the available historical control ranges for each tissue. There was no evidence of induction of DNA damage in cells isolated from duodenum, kidney or liver of male and female rats or in the testes of male rats following exposure to HQ at a dose levels up to 420 mg/kg/day, which caused acute renal necrosis.