〈Original Papers〉Evaluation of the toxicity of chemicals on neural cells

[Abstract] There is an increasing interest of using bio-based polymers instead of conventional petroleum-based polymers. Biodegradable polylactic acids made from lactides are now used for the parts of cars, the drug delivery system and coatings of metal stents. The safety of the polymer was already known well. However, the toxicity of lactids is not investigated in detail. In order to evaluate the toxicity of lactides, human neuroblastoma cell lines SK-N-SH and the cultured primary neuron in rat were incubated with DL-lactide, L-lactide and toluene. While toluene was toxic, DL-lactide and L-lactide were nontoxic for both cells even high concentrations. The results indicated that lactides are safe to use