Tartrazine showed toxic and DNA-damaging effects in lab tests
What it found
In lab tests on human cells, brine shrimp, onion roots and yeast, tartrazine was toxic at higher concentrations and caused chromosome damage in onion cells.
The effects did not appear to involve oxidative stress.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Human cell toxicity
Tartrazine reduced the viability of normal human stomach cells from 25 micrograms per millilitre and human fibroblasts from 12.5 micrograms per millilitre. The positive control doxorubicin reduced viability by about 40% and 62%.
Brine shrimp lethality
After 48 hours, tartrazine killed about 30% of brine shrimp at the lowest concentration tested, 31.25 micrograms per millilitre. The lethal concentration for half the shrimp was 221.5 micrograms per millilitre, which the authors class as moderate toxicity.
Onion root toxicity
Tartrazine reduced root growth and the mitotic index in onion roots at all tested concentrations and exposure times. It also caused more cells to stay in interphase, suggesting it blocked cell division.
Chromosome damage in onions
Tartrazine caused chromosome alterations in onion cells at 100 to 400 micrograms per millilitre after 24 and 72 hours. At the highest concentration it increased micronuclei formation and caused c-metaphase damage, a sign of mitotic spindle disruption.
No oxidative stress in yeast
Tartrazine did not cause oxidative effects in any of the six yeast strains tested, including strains with defects in antioxidant enzymes. The authors suggest the toxic and mutagenic effects are probably not linked to oxidative stress.
What the authors conclude
“These data demonstrated that TRZ may be harmful to health and its prolonged use is thought to trigger carcinogenesis.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that tartrazine showed toxic, cytotoxic and mutagenic effects on plant, animal and human cells.
- They state that tartrazine may be harmful to health and its prolonged use is thought to trigger carcinogenesis.
- They support the need for better food additive inspections and the elimination of tartrazine as a food additive because it provides no nutritional benefit.
How it was done
The authors note that tartrazine is widely used in foods, especially by children, and that studies on its toxic, DNA-damaging and mutation-causing effects have given conflicting results.
They tested tartrazine at concentrations from 1.5 to 1000 micrograms per millilitre on human stomach cells, human fibroblasts, brine shrimp, onion roots and six yeast strains. Exposures lasted from 24 to 72 hours depending on the test.
What it can’t tell you
- These are lab tests on cells, brine shrimp, onion roots and yeast. They cannot show what happens in people who eat foods containing tartrazine.
- The study did not follow people over time, so it cannot show whether tartrazine causes cancer or other diseases in humans.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- There are no financial or other issues that might lead to conflict of interests.
- Authors work at
- Laboratory of Cytogenetics and Mutagenesis of the Federal University of Piauí, Brazil; Federal University of Pará, Brazil; Federal University of Piauí, Brazil
The paper
- Title
- Cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of the food additive tartrazine on eukaryotic cells
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Dos Santos JR, de Sousa Soares L, Soares BM, et al (2022). Cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of the food additive tartrazine on eukaryotic cells. BMC pharmacology & toxicology. doi:10.1186/s40360-022-00638-7Free full textPubMed 36564854DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error