ABSTRACT The micronucleus test is an effective method for determination of the evolution of genotoxic or clastogenic agents of physical and chemical functions. The micronuclei are formed due to the condensation lagging off of acentric chromosomes, chromatid fragments or entire chromosomes and also due to non introduction of them in main daughter nuclei during metaphase or anaphase of cell division. Formation of micronuclei reflects chromosome damage and thus provides a marker for carcinogenesis analysis. Acrylamide is an important industrial chemical used in waste water treatment, adhesives and grout, cosmetics and also in laboratories. It is genotoxic, in in vitro and in vivo, in both somatic and germ cells. Acrylamide induces chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei formation, sister chromatid exchanges, SS-DNA breaks, polyploidy, aneuploidy and other mitotic disturbances, dominant lethal and specific locus mutations. Therefore a study was made on micronuclei assay to evaluate the degree of genotoxicity of acrylamide and its toxicologic effects on rat’s reproductive system after intraperitoneal injection of different doses of acrylamide. The Acrylamide treatment to rats caused damage not only to peripheral blood cells and reticulocytes but also to spermatids. The formation of micronuclei was evidence in our present study though acrylamide may not be used directly. The indirect consumption of acrylamide definitely causes damage to almost all type of cells in the rats.

Genotoxicity of check embryo was characterized by the formation of micronuclei assay in erythrocytes of peripheral blood of incubated eggs in normal and stress conditions of Acrylamide and cadmium chloride. The exposure of eggs to chemicals suggests that the micro nucleated cells shall accumulate in circulating blood due to completely developed spleen. These micro nucleated cells were absent in the developmental stages, especially at day 11, of incubation at where extremely high rate of erythropoiesis can occur in check embryos. The genotoxicity of Acrylamide and cadmium chloride has been studied using day 8 to day 10 chick embryos and the results were discussed for day 11 embryos. The results on the formation of micronuclei were suggested that it was time and dose dependent anomaly produced by exposure of eggs to chemicals. At any given concentration of Acrylamide and cadmium chloride the formation of micronuclei was found more for these two chemicals and when compared to Acrylamide the cadmium chloride exposure was more effective in the production of modified erythrocytes. Therefore our studies on check embryo have revealed that the erythrocytes of bone marrow shall acquire DNA modification under the influence of cadmium chloride and Acrylamide. The earlier reports have already been confirmed that these two chemicals are germ line modifiers in various living organisms.