Critical Review of Styrene Genotoxicity Focused on the Mutagenicity/Clastogenicity Literature and Using Current OECD Guidance.

Styrene is an important high production volume chemical used to manufacture polymeric products. In 2018, IARC classified styrene as probably carcinogenic to humans; NTP lists styrene as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen. The genotoxicity literature for styrene and its primary metabolite, styrene 7,8-oxide (SO), begins in the 1970s. OECD recently updated most genotoxicity test guidelines (TGs), making substantial new recommendations for assay conduct and data evaluation for the standard mutagenicity/clastogenicity assays. Thus, a critical review of the in vitro and in vivo rodent mutagenicity/clastogenicity studies for styrene and SO, based on the latest OECD recommendations, is timely. This critical review considered whether a study was optimally designed, conducted, and interpreted, and provides a critical assessment of the evidence for the mutagenicity/clastogenicity of styrene/SO. Information on the ability of styrene/SO to induce other types of genotoxicity endpoints is summarized but not critically reviewed. We conclude that when styrene is metabolized to SO, it can form DNA adducts, and positive in vitro mutagenicity/clastogenicity results can be obtained. SO is mutagenic in bacteria and the in vitro mouse lymphoma gene mutation assay. No rodent in vivo mutation studies were identified. SO is clastogenic in cultured mammalian cells. Although the in vitro assays gave positive responses, styrene/SO is not clastogenic/aneugenic in vivo in rodents. In addition to providing updated information for styrene, this review demonstrates the application of the new OECD guidelines for chemicals with large genetic toxicology databases where published results may or may not be reliable. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.