Table 1.

The genotoxicity induced by different types of carbon nanomaterials (CNMs).

Type of CNM	Physico-Chemical Characteristics	Cell Line/Animal	Genotoxicity Testing Method	Concentration/Dose	Outcomes	Mechanisms of Genotoxicity	Ref.
Fullerene
C60	Particle size: 0.7 nm	A549-Human lung carcinoma cells C57BL/6J or gptdelta transgenic male mice	Micronuclei Comet assay	0.02–200 mg/L 0.2 mg of particles per animal	Genotoxic -clastogenic effects DNA damage in the lungs of mice	nc	[108]
C60	Particle size: 407–5117 nm	Female rats	8-oxodG, RT-PCR	0.064 or 0.64 mg/kg	Elevated levels of 8-oxodG in the liver and lungs	Indirect (C60 generated oxidatively damaged DNA in rodent organs)	[103]
C60-Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) suspension	Particle size: 34.95 nm	Adult freshwater fish – Anabas testudineus	Micronuclei, Comet assay	5 and 10 mg/L	Genotoxic effects	nc	[106]
C60(OH)24	-	CHO-K1-Chinese hamster ovary cells	Micronuclei, Chromosomal aberration	12.4–249 mg/L	No genotoxic effects	nc	[104]
C60(OH)24	Particle size: 180 and 90 nm	Human peripheral blood lymphocytes	Micronuclei, Chromosomal aberration	6.25–249.96 mg/L	No genotoxic effects	nc	[105]
Nanodiamonds
Single-Digit Nanodiamonds	Particle size:50 nm	Insect species – Achetadomesticus (Orthoptera)	Organism-level end-point (lifespan, body weight, consumption, caloric value of feces, reproduction)	0.02 or 0.2 mg/g dry weight	Genotoxic effect -oxidative damage and feeding disturbances limited to the exposed generation	nc	[109]
Nanodiamond powder	Particle size: <10 nm	Human blood	Micronuclei, FISH, 8-oxoG, Comet assay	1–50 mg/L	Genotoxic effect—elevated level of 8-oxoG at 1 µg/mL, and micronuclei (aneugenic activity) at 10 mg/L, but no induction of DNA double strand breaks	Indirect	[110]
Pristine nanodiamond particles	Particle size: 4–5 nm	C57/BL6-mouse embryonic stem cells	Western blotting-DNA damage and repair biomarkers p53, MOGG-, Rad51, XRCC-4	5 or 100 mg/L	Genotoxic effect–oxidized NDs caused more DNA damage than the pristine/raw NDs	nc	[111]
Carbon nanotubes
SWCNT	Particle size: 0.9–1.7 nm Length: <1 μm	Female rats	8-oxodG	0.064 or 0.64 mg/kg	Genotoxic effect—elevated levels of 8-oxodG in the liver and lung	Indirect (SWCNT generated oxidatively damaged DNA in rodent organs)	[103]
SWCNT	Diameter: 1.1 nm Length: 0.5–100 µm	BEAS 2B-a transformed human bronchial epithelial cell line	Micronuclei, Comet assay	3–360 mg/L	Genotoxic effect	Possibly indirect (contribution by catalyst metals)	[112]
SWCNT	Diameter: 0.4–1.2 nm Length: 1–3 µm	V79 (lung fibroblast line) S. typhimurium strains YG1024/YG1029	Comet assay, MN, Ames test	0–9.6 mg/m2 0–0.240 mg/plate	Genotoxic effect -induction of DNA damage at 3 h/960 mg/m2and 24 h/≥48 μg/cm2; -micronucleus induction at 960 mg/m2; -Ames test	nc	[113]
SWCNT	Diameter: 1–4 nm Length: 0.5–1 µm	BEAS-2B-Normal human bronchial epithelial cells	Mitotic spindle analysis, Chromosome number–FISH	0.2–0.8 mg/m2 of culture surface area	Genotoxic effect	Direct (association with DNA, mitotic spindle disruption and errors in chromosome number)	[114]
MWCNT	Particle size: 15 ± 5 nm (0.03% Fe, 0% Co, and 0% Ni)	BEAS-2B- human bronchial epithelial cells, SAEC-primary small human airway respiratory epithelial cells	Mitotic spindle analysis, Chromosome number–FISH	0.24–240 mg/m2 of culture surface area	Genotoxic effect at 0.24 mg/m2 errors in chromosome number and mitotic spindle aberrations	Direct	[115]
MWCNT	Particle size: 5–20 nm Length: 300–2000 nm; Hydrodynamic diameter: 401.3 nm	A549-human lung epithelial cell line	Micronuclei, Western blot (p53)	10 and 50 mg/L	Genotoxic effect at 10 mg/L/24 h	nc	[116]
Graphene
GO	Thickness: 0.7–1.5 nm Mean diameter: 156.4 nm	Mice	Micronuclei	Intravenously 4 mg/kg	Genotoxic effect	Direct (intercalated into DNA) and indirect (inducing ROS)	[35]
	Thickness: 20–30 layers Lateral dimension: <2 µm	Male rats	Comet assay	Inhalation 0.12, 0.47, and 1.88 mg/L	No genotoxic effects	No increased inflammatory markers	[117]
rGO	Particle size: 342 nm Zeta potential: 25 mV Thickness: ∼5 nm	Male rats	Micronuclei	Single tail vein injection of 7 mg/kg, concentration of 1000 mg/L	No genotoxic effects	No inflammatory response	[118]

nc – not considered