Evaluating nephrotoxicity of high-molecular-weight organic compounds in drinking water from lignite aquifers.
High-molecular-weight organic compounds such as humic acids and/or fulvic acids that are naturally mobilized from lignite beds into untreated drinking-water supplies were suggested as one possible cause of Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) and cancer of the renal pelvis. A lab investigation was undertaken in order to assess the nephrotoxic potential of such organic compounds using an in vitro tissue culture model. Because of the infeasibility of exposing kidney tissue to low concentrations of organics for years in the lab, tangential flow ultrafiltration was employed to hyperconcentrate samples suitable for discerning effects in the short time frames necessitated by tissue culture systems. Effects on HK-2 kidney cells were measured using two different cell proliferation assays (MTT and alamarBlue). Results demonstrated that exposure of kidney tissue to high-molecular-weight organics produced excess cell death or proliferation depending on concentration and duration of exposure.
US Department of the Interior, Eastern Energy Resources Team, USGS, Reston, Virginia 20192, USA. jbunnell@usgs.gov
Joseph E
JE
Bunnell
Calin A
CA
Tatu
Harry E
HE
Lerch
William H
WH
Orem
Nikola
N
Pavlovic
D001449:Balkan Nephropathy; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms; D012383:Romania; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D014881:Water Supply; D014959:Wyoming; D015022:Yugoslavia
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical