engleski

Genotoxic properties of electric arc furnace dust on human lymphocytes : in vitro study

One of the global problems currently recognised worldwide, is a rising exposure of general population to small amounts of leachates of electric arc furnace dust (EAFD), which can pollute large volumes of ground and surface waters. The purpose of this work was to test the alkaline comet assay as a biomarker of the genotoxicity of EAFD leachates, established prior/after the alkaline extraction process. Prior and following the treatment, lymphocytes were incubated with leachate of EAFD for 6 and 24 hours. Results showed that EAFD leachates induced comet assay-detectable DNA damage in human lymphocytes compared to the control. The same goes for the samples exposed to EAFD leacheates pre-treated with a strong alkaline solution. Our data indicate that the ever-increasing amounts of mixture of a number of toxic chemicals, originated from various waste materials residual to a variety of technological processes, such as EAFD, may be responsible for the DNA damage, and suggest that the exposure of human population to such leachates may lead to adverse healthy effects. In addition, comet assay prove to be sensitive when assessing genotoxicity of various waste materials, such as EAFD leachates.

alkaline comet assay; DNA damage; electric arc furnace dust; human lymphocytes

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