Haloacetonitriles: Metabolism, Genotoxicity, and Tumor-Initiating Activity

Haloacetonitriles (HAN) are drinking water contaminants produced during chlorine disinfection. This paper evaluates metabolism, genotoxicity, and tumor-initiating activity of these chemicals. The alkylating potential of the HAN to react with the electrophile-trapping agent, 4-(p-nitrobenzyl)pyridine, followed the order dibromoacetonitrile (DBAN) > bromochloroacetonitrile (BCAN) > chloroacetonitrile (CAN) > dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN) > trichloroacetonitrile (TCAN). When administered orally to rats, the HAN were metabolized to cyanide and excreted in the urine as thiocyanate. The extent of thiocyanate excretion was CAN > BCAN > DCAN > DBAN >> TCAN. Haloacetonitriles inhibited in vitro microsomal dimethylnitrosamine demethylase (DMN-DM) activity. The most potent inhibitors were DBAN and BCAN, with Ki=3-4× 10-5M; the next potent were DCAN and TCAN, with Ki=2× 10-4M; and the least potent inhibitor was CAN, with Ki=9× 10-2M. When administered orally, TCAN, but not DBAN, inhibited hepatic DMN-DM activity. The HAN produced DNA strand breaks in cultured human lymphoblastic (CCRF-CEM) cells. TCAN was the most potent DNA strand breaker, and BCAN > DBAN > DCAN > CAN, which was only marginally active. DCAN reacted with polyadenylic acid and DNA to form adducts in a cell-free system; however, the oral administration of DBAN or DCAN to rats did not result in detectable adduct formation in liver DNA. None of the HAN initiated γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) foci when assayed for tumor-initiating activity in rat liver foci bioassay. In summary, the HAN were demonstrated to possess alkylating activity and genotoxicity in vitro and appeared after oral administration to possess biological activity as indicated by the inhibition of DMN-DM by TCAN but appeared to lack genotoxic and tumor-initiating activity in rat liver. It is proposed that if the HAN found in drinking water pose a carcinogenic hazard it would be limited to the gastrointestinal tract.