title: [The mutagenicity of surface water, waste water and drinking water in the Rhine-Neckar region in the Salmonella microsome test (Ames Test)].
abstract: We have shown recently that the quality of surface water in urban and industrialized regions is of dubious hygienic. Therefore, in further studies we examined 46 water samples between October and November 1986 from the Rhine-river and its tributaries between km 400 and 440 using the Salmonella mutagenicity test (Ames-test). Additionally, we examined 8 samples from the waterworks of Mannheim and 4 samples from a lake in the Mannheim area. Each of our 464 samples was examined using Salmonella strains TA 97, TA 98, TA 100 and TA 102 with and without Aroclor-1254-induced S9-fraction from rat liver. 9.7% of the water samples showed mutagenic effects in the Ames test, the majority (70%) with low activity. High mutagenic effects were found in the waste water of the purification plants of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen and of some small but very highly contaminated brooks (Kraichbach, Leimbach). Two out of 8 untreated water samples of the waterworks of Mannheim showed mutagenic effects in the undiluted water following metabolic activation. We never found mutagenic effects in all samples taken from the same site. The Ames-test is a useful screening procedure for the determination of mutagenic or cancerogenic effects of environmental contaminants. It allows an evaluation of mixtures of anthropogenically polluted environmental samples for potentially genotoxic effects. Our results show that our water resources pose ecological hazards. This should be prevented by a better control of the industrial and communal waste water before it is allowed to flow into the river.
mesh_terms: D005618:Fresh Water / Q000032:analysis; D005860:Germany, West; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000032:analysis; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens; D014873:Water Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water
vernacular_title: Zur Mutagenität von Oberflächenwasser, Abwasser und Trinkwasser des Rhein-Neckar-Raums im Salmonella-Mikrosomen-Test (Ames-Test).