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Genotoxic and Mutagenic Potential of Agricultural Soil Irrigated with Tannery Effluents at Jajmau (Kanpur), India

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Abstract

It is a common practice in India to irrigate agricultural fields with wastewater originating from industries and domestic sources. At Jajmau (Kanpur), India, tannery effluent is used for irrigation purposes. This practice has been polluting the soil directly and groundwater and food crops indirectly. This study is aimed at evaluating the mutagenic impact of soil irrigated with tannery effluent. Soil extracts were prepared using four organic solvents (dichloromethane, methanol, acetonitrile, and acetone) and tested with Ames Salmonella/microsome test and DNA repair-defective E. coli k-12 mutants. Gas Chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis of soil samples revealed the presence of a large number of organic compounds including bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, benzene, 1,3-hexadien-5-yne, 2,4-bis(1,1-dimethyl)phenol, Docosane, 10-methylnonadecane, and many higher alkanes. The soil extracts exhibited significant mutagenicity with Ames tester strains. TA98 was found to be the most sensitive strains to all the soil extracts, producing maximum response in terms of mutagenic index of 14.2 (–S9) and 13.6 (+S9) in the presence of dichloromethane extract. Dichloromethane-extracted soil exhibited a maximum mutagenic potential of 17.3 (–S9) and 20.0 (+S9) revertants/mg soil equivalent in TA100. Methanol, acetonitrile, and acetone extracts were also found to be mutagenic. A significant decline in the survival of DNA repair-defective E. coli K-12 mutants was observed compared to their isogenic wild-type counterparts when treated with different soil extracts. PolA mutant was found to be the most sensitive strain toward all four soil extracts.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (File No. 24(0271)/04/EMR-II), Government of India, is gratefully acknowledged. S.A.I.F. at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, is also acknowledged for carrying out GC-MS analysis.

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  1. Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202 002, India

    Mohammad Zubair Alam & Abdul Malik

  2. Microbiology Division, Institute of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, J.N. Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202 002, India

    Shamim Ahmad

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  1. Mohammad Zubair Alam
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Correspondence to Mohammad Zubair Alam.

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Alam, M.Z., Ahmad, S. & Malik, A. Genotoxic and Mutagenic Potential of Agricultural Soil Irrigated with Tannery Effluents at Jajmau (Kanpur), India. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 57, 463–476 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-009-9284-0

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