Abstract: In vitro bioassays are a series of in vitro short-term toxicity tests utilizing yeasts, bacteria or cells, which allow the evaluation of the hazards of analytes and the exploration of the underlying toxicity mechanisms by effectively focusing on a specific effect in organisms. Owing to providing comprehensive information on the overall actual hazards of migrants (mixtures) from food contact materials, in vitro bioassays have been increasingly applied in the hazard assessment of food contact materials in recent years, especially focusing on three toxicological endpoints including cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and endocrine disruption effect. In this paper, the basic principles of the three kinds of bioassays and the progress made in their applications in the hazard assessment of food contact materials in the past two decades are reviewed. It is expected to provide a theoretical basis for future studies on the biological safety evaluation of food contact materials.

Key words: food contact materials, safety evaluation, in vitro bioassays, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, endocrine disruption effect