Water mutagenic potential assessment on a semiarid aquatic ecosystem under influence of heavy metals and natural radioactivity using micronuclei test

Abstract

The contamination of water bodies by heavy metals and ionizing radiation is a critical environmental issue, which can affect water quality and, thus, human health. This study aimed to evaluate the water quality of the Boqueirão de Parelhas Dam in the Brazilian semiarid region. A 1-year study (2013-2014) was performed through the assessment of physicochemical parameters, heavy metal content, and radioactivity along with the mutagenicity potential of water using micronuclei test in Orechromis niloticus (in vivo) and the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay in human lymphocytes (in vitro). A deterioration of water organoleptics characteristics by the presence of high levels of sulfate and total solids was observed. High concentrations of aluminum, nickel, silver, and lead along with the alpha particle content were higher than the limits suggested by the World Health Organization and Brazilian legislation for drinking water. An increase in the frequency of micronuclei and nuclear abnormalities was observed in both experimental models. The results obtained confirmed the mutagenic potential present in water samples. This study highlights that geogenic agents affect water quality becoming a human health concern to be taken into account due to the relevance that this water reservoir has in the region.

Evaluation of Water Quality of Buritis Lake

“…The presence of FC in the water indicates poor quality and highlights the potential risk of pathogenic organisms [33]. In this way, the population that uses the water for consumption without any type of prior treatment may be putting their health at risk.…”

Evaluation of temporary seasonal variation of heavy metals and their potential ecological risk in Nzhelele River, South Africa

“…Heavy metal contamination of rivers and sediments have been linked to several human activities that occur both far and close to the natural resource such as settlements, farms, game reserves, car wash, mining industries, storm water runoff, and wastewater treatment facilities [23]. de Melo Gurgel et al [24] and Chaves et al [23] reported that anthropogenic activities performed very close to rivers poses threat to the aquatic ecosystems and humans as contaminated water becomes a channel through which several diseases are spread to people living around the water resource.…”

“…de Melo Gurgel et al [24] and Chaves et al [23] reported that anthropogenic activities performed very close to rivers poses threat to the aquatic ecosystems and humans as contaminated water becomes a channel through which several diseases are spread to people living around the water resource. High levels of heavy metals have been reported in different species of aquatic organisms such as macrophytes, phytoplanktons, zooplanktons, prawns and fish in concentration beyond the permissible limits and this serves as a pathway to humans [25,26].…”

The Impact of the Background Radiation on the Health

“…Terrestrial radionuclides are one of the most important sources of human exposure to radiation due to the emission of radioactive particles (UNSCEAR2008) [18,19]. Furthermore, chronic exposure to ionizing radiation might be the potential health risk for the population [20]. In terms of terrestrial radionuclides, one of the main contributor to radiation exposure is monazite -rich black sands in Miami Bay, Malaysia.…”

“…We identified 13 papers that fulfilled the criteria of natural background radiation impact on the health over the terrestrial radiation, intakes of naturally occurring radionuclides through inhalation and ingestion [5-7, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 21-23, 27, 28]. There are several molecular epidemiological studies that revealed low dose of natural background radiation beneficial for health, as it induce the adaptive response in the DNA damage repair capacity and antioxidant capacity of inhabitants in the high background-radiation area [1-3, 9-11, 15, 18, 25].There were just four papers, which suspected the adverse effect from natural background radiation on the human health [4,8,11,14,18,20]. However, the authors still recommended studying this question, as to be sure that radiation is a dominant risk factor for the health.…”