Organotin compounds have a number of industrial applications, and human exposures occur in various industrial settings. The present study reports effects of trimethyltin chloride (TMT) on chromosome length in asynchronous human peripheral lymphocyte cultures. The results demonstrate dose-related and exposure time-related reductions in average chromosome length. Induction of supercontraction indicates that TMT is a powerful inhibitor of spindle function. TMT would thus be expected to be able to induce aneuploidy due to non-disjunction. This study indicates the need for more-direct investigations on the spindle-inhibiting effects of TMT and other organotin compounds.
