Experimental study of the DNA damage induced by formaldehyde

The DNA damages induced by the typical environmental pollutant formaldehyde was studied with single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) and high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-EC). The results showed that formaldehyde could not only cause DNA strand breakage but also DNA-DNA, DNA protein crosslinks of lymphocytes of human peripheral blood. The reaction of formaldehyde with DNA in vitro is weak, but the oxidative ability is enhanced and the reaction could produce a number of 8-OHdG adducts mediated by the Fe~(2+). The animal experiment showed that formaldehyde could cause the oxidative DNA damage of rat lung tissues, which suggested that formaldehyde have the stronger genotoxicity.