Assessing the ecological risk of soil irrigated with wastewater using in vitro cell bioassays.
In the most recent research work, the accumulation of toxicants in soil was always assessed through concentration level of the target contaminants. However, assessments based on chemical analysis were limited in numbers and in their unpredictable bioavailability. An alternative assessment could be based on toxicity assessment. It means that a screening bioassay is a necessary tool for identifying and defining contaminants at the sites, which should warrant further attention. In the present study, three in vitro cell bioassays, including the SOS/umu bioassay for genotoxic effects, human estrogen receptor recombinant yeast bioassay for estrogenic effects, and ethoxyresorfin O-deethylase (EROD) with H4IIE rat hepatoma cells bioassay for Ah-receptor agonistic effects, were used for the evaluation of the accumulation of toxicants in soils irrigated with wastewater in the suburb of Beijing, China. The results indicated that there were significant increases of genotoxic, estrogenic, and Ah-receptor agonistic effects in soils irrigated with wastewater, as compared with soils irrigated with groundwater. There was the decreased effect gradient following the increase of the distances from the inlet of the wastewater. It was concluded that wastewater irrigation could cause accumulation of genotoxic, estrogenic, and Ah-receptor agonistic chemicals in soil.
Yu
Guo
G
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
Xiao
Ruiyang
R
Wang
Donghong
D
Zhou
Jun
J
Wang
Zijian
Z
D001681:Biological Assay; D004463:Ecology; D007220:Industrial Waste; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / Q000819:agonists; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D014867:Water
D007220:Industrial Waste; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014867:Water