Abstract: BACKGROUND AND AIM: To explore the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of beryllium sulfate to human embryonic lung fibroblast (HEL-I)in vitro .MATERIALS AND METHODS: HEL-I cells were cultured with different concentrations of beryllium sulfate for 24 h, cell survival rate was measured by MTT test, cell genetic damage was assessed by single-cell gel electrophoresis and micronucleus test . RESULTS: The survival rate of HEL-I cells decreased along with increasing concentrations of the beryllium sulfate . When the concentration of beryllium sulfate reached 100.0 μmol/L and 200.0 μmol/L， the survival rates of HEL-I cells were lower than control group. And beryllium sulfate caused DNA damage and micronucleus rate elevations in HEL-I cells at concentrations between 2.0 μmol/L and 100.0 μmol/L (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Beryllium sulfate had obvious cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in HEL-I cells.

Key words: beryllium sulfate, human embryonic lung fibroblast, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, DNA damage, micronucleus