Figure 2: Effects of mercury exposure on cell viability following 24 [A] or 48 [B] hour exposure. Cellular viability was determined by measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity released into the media compared to the total lactate dehydrogenase activity. Following exposure to mercury, MCF-12A cells were the most sensitive to all treatments at both time points, followed by the MDA-MB-453 and then MCF-7. All cell types also showed a higher percentage of damage when exposed to the organic mercury compound. (F4,45=58.60; p<0.0001). Data were analyzed by twoway ANOVA (treatment X cell line) followed by Dunnett’s test for multiple comparisons to control (0 ppm) mean for each cell line. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM of N=4 in duplicate.