High hydrostatic pressure potentiation of the toxic effects of chromate in cell culture

Abstract

Development of hyperbaric welding has created the need for new occupational health standards. We have used cell cultures to investigate effects of high pressure chromate on the toxicity of the welding-fume component, chromate. The results indicate that pressure caused rounding-up of cells and changes in F-actin filaments, and that these effects were related to the extent of high pressure and independent of exposure duration. When exposing the Flow 5000 cells to chromate (1-5 microM) the amount of disrupted F-actin fibers was found to depend on the concentration applied and the duration of exposure. The amount of cell-associated chromate was the same for 1 h exposure at 1 and 150 bar. The fraction of rounded cells after exposure to 1 microM chromate and 100 bar for 18 h was higher than would be expected if the effects were purely additive.