The presence of genotoxic substances in the river Danube five months after bombardment of the industrial zone of Pančevo as revealed by the Allium anaphase-telophase genotoxicity assay

The consequence of aerial bombardment of the petrochemical complex, oil refinery and chemical industry including the HIP 'Azotara' fertilizer factory in the vicinity of Pančevo in April 1999 was that a large amount of dangerous chemicals leaked into the canal collecting industrial wastewater and flowed pouring out into the Danube. As the level of water in the Danube was high at that time, leaking of chemicals from the canal into the river lasted for a long time. Therefore the aim of this work was to check if toxic and genotoxic effects were present 5 months after the bombardment. Three samples of Danube water (upstream from the canal, just after the opening of the canal and downstream from the canal) were used for this purpose. All three samples plus a sample from the canal were also chemically analyzed. The Allium anaphase-telophase test was used to examine the toxicity and genotoxicity of water samples because it can be used without any concentration or purification of samples before testing. Clear inhibition of growth, compared to the control sample, was produced by the second sample. This sample, taken just after entry of the canal was the only one which produced a statistically significant increase in the number of chromosome aberrations in comparison with the control sample (X2(i) = 10.7, p<0.001). The results of our test and the chemical analyses of the water samples, show that both toxic and genotoxic effects of the Danube water may occur due to water coming in from the canal even 5 months after the chemicals had leaked into the canal.Kao posledica bombardovanja Petrohemijskog kompleksa, Rafinerije nafte i hemijske industrije Pančevo - HIP Azotara u blizini Pančeva u aprilu 1999. godine izlile su se velike količine opasnih hemikalija u kanal za industrijsku otpadnu vodu, a njime u Dunav. Pošto je u to vreme nivo vode Dunava bio visok izlivanje hemikalija u reku trajalo je dugo vremena, tako da je cilj našeg rada bio da se proveri da li su toksični i genotoksični efekti prisutni 5 meseci nakon bombardovanja. Za tu svrhu analizirana su tri uzorka Dunavske vode (uzvodno od kanala, na ušću kanala i nizvodno od kanala). Svatri uzorka kao i uzorak vode iz kanala hemijski su analizirani. Za ispitivanje toksičnosti i genotoksičnosti uzoraka vode korišćen je Allium anaphase-telophase test zbog činjenice da se uzorci mogu ispitivati bez koncentrisanja ili prečišćavanja. Drugi uzorak pokazao je jasnu inhibiciju rasta korenčića luka u odnosu na kontrolni uzorak (toksični efekat). Isti uzorak je bio jedini koji je produkovao statistički značajan porast broja hromozomskih aberacija u poređenju sa kontrolom (X2(i) = 10.7, p<0.001). Rezultati testiranja kao i rezultati hemijske analize pokazuju da su tokskični i genotoksični efekati u vodi Dunava poreklom iz vode koja dolazi iz kanala.nul

The presence of genotoxic substances in the river Danube five months after bombardment of the industrial zone of Pančevo as revealed by the Allium anaphase-telophase genotoxicity assay

The consequence of aerial bombardment of the petrochemical complex, oil refinery and chemical industry including the HIP 'Azotara' fertilizer factory in the vicinity of Pančevo in April 1999 was that a large amount of dangerous chemicals leaked into the canal collecting industrial wastewater and flowed pouring out into the Danube. As the level of water in the Danube was high at that time, leaking of chemicals from the canal into the river lasted for a long time. Therefore the aim of this work was to check if toxic and genotoxic effects were present 5 months after the bombardment. Three samples of Danube water (upstream from the canal, just after the opening of the canal and downstream from the canal) were used for this purpose. All three samples plus a sample from the canal were also chemically analyzed. The Allium anaphase-telophase test was used to examine the toxicity and genotoxicity of water samples because it can be used without any concentration or purification of samples before testing. Clear inhibition of growth, compared to the control sample, was produced by the second sample. This sample, taken just after entry of the canal was the only one which produced a statistically significant increase in the number of chromosome aberrations in comparison with the control sample (X2(i) = 10.7, p<0.001). The results of our test and the chemical analyses of the water samples, show that both toxic and genotoxic effects of the Danube water may occur due to water coming in from the canal even 5 months after the chemicals had leaked into the canal.Kao posledica bombardovanja Petrohemijskog kompleksa, Rafinerije nafte i hemijske industrije Pančevo - HIP Azotara u blizini Pančeva u aprilu 1999. godine izlile su se velike količine opasnih hemikalija u kanal za industrijsku otpadnu vodu, a njime u Dunav. Pošto je u to vreme nivo vode Dunava bio visok izlivanje hemikalija u reku trajalo je dugo vremena, tako da je cilj našeg rada bio da se proveri da li su toksični i genotoksični efekti prisutni 5 meseci nakon bombardovanja. Za tu svrhu analizirana su tri uzorka Dunavske vode (uzvodno od kanala, na ušću kanala i nizvodno od kanala). Svatri uzorka kao i uzorak vode iz kanala hemijski su analizirani. Za ispitivanje toksičnosti i genotoksičnosti uzoraka vode korišćen je Allium anaphase-telophase test zbog činjenice da se uzorci mogu ispitivati bez koncentrisanja ili prečišćavanja. Drugi uzorak pokazao je jasnu inhibiciju rasta korenčića luka u odnosu na kontrolni uzorak (toksični efekat). Isti uzorak je bio jedini koji je produkovao statistički značajan porast broja hromozomskih aberacija u poređenju sa kontrolom (X2(i) = 10.7, p<0.001). Rezultati testiranja kao i rezultati hemijske analize pokazuju da su tokskični i genotoksični efekati u vodi Dunava poreklom iz vode koja dolazi iz kanala.nul

Algal Communities Along the Sava River

Field analysis of phytoplankton and phytobenthos communities of the river Sava has been performed, from Slovenia to Serbia, in August 2011 and September 2012 at 20 localities. A total number of 256 taxa have been determined, from eight divisions: Cyanobacteria (20), Rhodophyta (1), Dinophyta (6), Cryptophyta (1), Chrysophyta (1), Bacillariophyta (152), Chlorophyta (67) and Euglenophyta (8). In the phytoplankton samples, 188 taxa have been identified and in the phytobenthos samples 153 taxa. The most diverse divisions of phytoplankton of the river Sava were Bacillariophyta (46.28 % of total taxa number) and Chlorophyta (34.57 % of total taxa number). Biomass of phytoplankton was low, and the abundance of phytoplankton communities varied between 65,000 and 412,000 Ind L−1. The biomass of phytoplankton of the river Sava was in the range of 41 to 564 μg fr. wt. L−1. The phytobenthos dominated by the division of Bacillariophyta, making 81.7 % of the community. Visible macroaggregations were composed of Cladophora glomerata (Chlorophyta) and Thorea hispida (Rhodophyta).Milačić R, Ščančar J, Paunović M, editors. The Sava River. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag; 2015. p. 229-48

New Records of Thremma anomalum

Distribution of Thremma anomalum was well documented by the late 1980s. How ever, macrozoobenthos research within Serbian watercourses between 1989 and 2010 reveal a shift of the western boundary of the distribution. Recent research in western Serbia and northern Montenegro has shown no trace of this species, in spite of its previous presence. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the species was found in only one of ten former localities, implying that the species might entirely vanish from zoographic region 5 in the near future. On the other hand, the species was found at 17 localities in eastern, southeastern and southern Serbia, sections of the area where the species was not recorded earlier. This research has shown that T. anomalum is not restricted to cold waters and builds specific biocenoses characterized by dominance of Trichoptera and Gammaridae