title: Red mud a byproduct of aluminum production contains soluble vanadium that causes genotoxic and cytotoxic effects in higher plants.
abstract: Red mud (RM) is a byproduct of aluminum production; worldwide between 70 and 120 million tons is produced annually. We analyzed RM which was released in the course of the Kolontar disaster in Hungary into the environment in acute and genotoxicity experiments with plants which are widely used for environmental monitoring. We detected induction of micronuclei which reflect chromosomal damage in tetrads of Tradescantia and in root cells of Allium as well as retardation of root growth with contaminated soils and leachates. Chemical analyses showed that RM contains metals, in particular high concentrations of vanadium. Follow-up experiments indicated that vanadate causes the effects in the plants. This compound causes also in humans DNA damage and positive results were obtained in carcinogenicity studies. Since it was found also in RM from other production sites our findings indicate that its release in the environment is a global problem which should be studied in more detail.
  Our findings indicate that the red mud causes genotoxic effect in plants probably due to the presence of vanadate which is contained at high concentrations in the residue.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mišík
authors.affiliation: Earth Surface Science Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Ian T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reismüller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pichler
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rainer
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mišíková
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental and Marine Sciences, University of Hull, Scarborough YO11 3AZ, UK.
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Mayes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: siegfried.knasmueller@meduniwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knasmueller
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum; D001681:Biological Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D007220:Industrial Waste; D008669:Metallurgy; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D010944:Plants / Q000187:drug effects*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D014639:Vanadium / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014639:Vanadium; D000535:Aluminum
keywords: Allium; Micronuclei; Red mud; Tradescantia; Vanadium