Cent Eur J Public Health 1998, 6(2):127-132
Detection of mutagenic activity of irrigated soils and plants in the Ames test
- Research Institute of Organic Syntheses, Pardubice-Rybitví, Czech Republic
Goal of the study was to ascertain the influence of various types of watering on mutagenicity of irrigated plants and soils. Mutagenicity of plant (carrot, mustard, maize and cabbage) and soils extracts irrigated with river water, with two kinds of waste water and artificial contaminated water (prepared from well water supplemented with a mixture of chemicals) was recognized in the Ames test. The extraction was performed by acetone in a one step procedure using a Soxhlet apparatus. Two bacterial strains - TA 98 and TA 100 - with ability to detect various types of mutations were used for the gene mutations assay. Only slight mutagenicity in TA 98 was found out in the cabbage and mustard after watering with the concentrated channel A water. In the rest of experiments the quantity of mutagenic compounds accumulated in treated plants was not enough to demonstrate the mutagenicity of their extracts. Substantial contribution of irrigation by the artificial contaminated water was not found in the soils either.
Published: June 1, 1998 Show citation