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Genotoxicity of spent pot liner as determined with the zebrafish (Danio rerio) experimental model

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 25, pages 11527–11535 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Spent pot liner (SPL) is a solid waste generated during the primary smelting of aluminum, and its toxicity is attributed to the presence of fluoride, cyanide, and aluminum salts, which can be leached into aquatic ecosystems. Since the effects of this waste on aquatic life forms have not yet been investigated, the objective of our study was to evaluate the toxicity of simulated leachates of SPL on zebrafish (Danio rerio). Animals were exposed to 0 (control), 0.32, 0.64, or 0.95 g L−1 of SPL for 24, 72, and 96 h, and genotoxicity was accessed through micronucleus and comet assays. All of the tested treatments induced DNA fragmentation, and the observed frequency of micronuclei and damaged nucleoids generally increased with increasing SPL concentration. The highest frequency of micronuclei (3.3 per 3000 erythrocytes) was detected after 96 h of exposure with 0.95 g L−1 SPL. In the comet assay, nucleoids classified with highest level of damage in relation to the control were observed principally after 24 and 96 h of exposure. The data obtained in this study confirm the genotoxicaction and mutagenic potential of SPL and indicate that open-air deposits of the waste material could represent a health risk to humans and ecosystems alike.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Pedro Henrique Cesar for support in the formatting of Fig. 4.

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Nível Superior (CAPES), and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, 37200-000, Brazil

    Tássia F. D. Castro, Aline F. S. Carvalho, Isadora L. Assis & Luis D. Solis-Murgas

  2. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Setor de Genética, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil

    Isadora M. Paiva

  3. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, 37200-000, Brazil

    Marcel J. Palmieri & Larissa F. Andrade-Vieira

  4. Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, 37200-000, Brazil

    Silvana Marcussi

Authors
  1. Tássia F. D. Castro
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  2. Isadora M. Paiva
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  3. Aline F. S. Carvalho
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  4. Isadora L. Assis
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  5. Marcel J. Palmieri
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  6. Larissa F. Andrade-Vieira
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  7. Silvana Marcussi
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  8. Luis D. Solis-Murgas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luis D. Solis-Murgas.

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The handling of animals and the experiments conducted with them were carried out in strict accordance with institutional (Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, MG, Brazil) and national (National Council for Control of Animal Experimentation (CONCEA)) guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Responsible editor: Markus Hecker

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Castro, T.F.D., Paiva, I.M., Carvalho, A.F.S. et al. Genotoxicity of spent pot liner as determined with the zebrafish (Danio rerio) experimental model. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 11527–11535 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1404-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1404-9

Keywords

  • Comet assay
  • Micronucleus assay
  • Gill cells
  • Aluminum
  • DNA fragmentation