Journal
CHEMISTRY AND ECOLOGY
Volume 32, Issue 9, Pages 843-857Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/02757540.2016.1201078
Keywords
Comet assay; freshwater invertebrates; genotoxicity; haemocytes; heavy metals; spermatozoa
Funding
- University of Rome 'La Sapienza'
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The present work deals with the application of genotoxicity biomarkers by means of the Comet assay in haemocytes and spermatozoa of the crustacean Gammarus elvirae exposed in vivo to heavy metals. Furthermore, a basal levels (BLs) study of DNA damage in the two cell types considered for two different gammarids species, G. elvirae and Echinogammarus veneris, was carried out. It is important to identify factors that influence the outcome of the assay in order to obtain reliable and reproducible results usable for risk assessment purposes. Our results highlight that the Italian legal limits for Hg and Pb, respectively, 0.5 and 50 mu g/L, are inadequate for establishing safety thresholds in the aquatic environment. Furthermore, the freshwater invertebrate G. elvirae, used for the first time to measure the effect of genotoxicants, is a good candidate for evaluating the genotoxicity damage induced by heavy metals. Our results concerning spermatozoa show excessively variable responses and high BLs.
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