Genotoxicity assessment of a pharmaceutical effluent using four bioassays

Pharmaceutical industries are among the major contributors to industrial waste. Their effluents when wrongly handled and disposed of endanger both human and environmental health. In this study, we investigated the potential genotoxicity of a pharmaceutical effluent, by using the Allium cepa, mouse- sperm morphology, bone marrow chromosome aberration (CA) and micronucleus (MN) assays. Some of the physico-chemical properties of the effluent were also determined. The A. cepa and the animal assays were respectively carried out at concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2.5, 5 and 10%; and 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50% of the effluent. There was a statistically different (p < 0.05), concentration-dependent inhibition of onion root growth and mitotic index, and induction of chromosomal aberrations in the onion and mouse CA test. Assessment of sperm shape showed that the fraction of the sperm that was abnormal in shape was significantly (p < 0.05) greater than the negative control value. MN analysis showed a dose-dependent induction of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes across the treatment groups. These observations were provoked by the toxic and genotoxic constituents present in test samples. The tested pharmaceutical effluent is a potentially genotoxic agent and germ cell mutagen, and may induce adverse health effects in exposed individuals

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Not AvailableAn experiment was carried out to study the electrophoretic profile of sperm membrane proteins in Assam Hill goat (AHG) bucks and their correlation with fresh semen characteristics. Ejaculates (64) consisting of 8 each from 8 bucks were collected by artificial vagina method. Each ejaculate was split into 2 equal parts. First part was used for fresh semen evaluation and the other part for protein study. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) indicated 20 different protein bands with molecular weight ranging from 10 kDa to 75 kDa. Among the 20 proteins, only 6 proteins bands were consistently present in all 8 bucks (100%). Protein bands with molecular weight 10, 14, 22, 28, 55, 57 and 60 kDa showed significant positive correlation with certain parameters of the fresh semen, while 47 kDa protein band presented negative correlation with fresh semen characteristics in AHG bucks. In conclusion, the proteins showing significant positive correlation with fresh semen characteristics might serve to screen semen of AHG bucks for breeding programmes.Not Availabl

Spatio-temporal Identification of Regions with Anomalous Values of 222 Rn in Groundwater of Madurai District, Tamilnadu, India

Measurement of dissolved radon (222 Rn) activity concentration in groundwater samples from private and public hand pumps, and in bore wells located at Madurai district of Tamilnadu, India, are presented. The study attempts to identify the background value of 222 Rn in groundwater of hard rock terrain and the main aquifer contributing 222 Rn, and to determine if any correlation exists with observed field parameters. Measured parameters included pH, TDS, Temperature and 222 Rn in 42 samples for two seasons (South West Monsoon [SWM] and North East Monsoon [NEM]). The results show that the 222 Rn activity concentration of the samples ranged from 0.049 to 59.952 Bq/L in South west monsoon and 0.12 to 211.60 Bq/L in North east monsoon. The higher activity was noted in NEM and the highest 222 Rn concentrations were observed in granitic terrains in both seasons. The average values of the parameters studied shows that there is a general decrease of TDS and Temperature, but an increase in 222 Rn and pH during NEM. The spatial representation of the activity shows that maximum values are in the north eastern part of the study area. Further, correlations between the measured parameters show that temperature has a negative correlation to the samples of charnockite formation during both seasons; pH and TDS also show negative relationships to 222 Rn during SWM