The potential medicinal application of lignin component of biomass derived from chemical treatment of wood for paper production was examined with regard to its ability to bind N-nitrosoamines and bile acids. Correlation between adsorption affinity of lignins towards N-nitrosodiethylamine and their cross-linking density was revealed. In contrast to lignin, all the tested carbohydrate preparations were poor adsorbents. It was revealed that the most effective lignin adsorbents-modified kraft and prehydrolysis lignins inhibit mutagenicity and SOS response induced by 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide. Moreover, these lignin preparations exhibited a protective effect on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in hamster V79 cells and in human VH10 and Caco-2 colon carcinoma cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) treatment due to their antioxidant nature. In the case of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-treatment lignins reduced alkylation of DNA due to their high affinity for adsorption of mutagertic N-nitroso compounds. This dual ability of lignin tested to decrease genotoxic activity of chemicals seems to be very promising for their application as natural antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic agents.