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Phenol and cresols are common toxic environmental pollutants. In this study, the micronucleus assay and the alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) technique have been used to investigate the genotoxic activity of phenol and o-cresol. The result of experiments revealed that phenol and o-cresol were both evident genotoxins, and the genotoxic activity of o-cresol was stronger. In the micronucleus assay, phenol and o-cresol could both cause a significant increase in the micronucleus (MN) frequencies (p < 0.05, p < 0.01) as compared with the solvent control. In the comet assay, the two tested substances could induce different levels of DNA damage on three different biomaterials, lymphocyte of human, spermatid of mouse and akaryocyte of crucian, and statistically significant increases (p < 0.05, p < 0.01) were found between the treated group and the related solvent control group. Moreover, differences of these cells were not significant. From this study it could be concluded that the comet assay is a sensitive and easy method to screen these chemicals and deserves further exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]