Petrochemical-related DNA damage in wild rodents detected by flow cytometry.

Abstract

The need for quick, reliable, in situ tests of environmental mutagenicity is evidenced by increasing public concern about potential health effects of pollutants. Conventional tests of clastogenicity usually involve treatment of laboratory test systems with pure samples of suspect compounds followed by scoring numerous metaphase cells for chromosome aberrations. There are at least two shortcomings of these test protocols. They are very time consumptive and are generally restricted to controlled laboratory situations which may not realistically indicate the effects of environmental pollution. The use of flow cytometry to study resident rodent species as bioindicators provides a system by which cytogenetic effects of environmental pollutants upon exposed organisms rapidly and accurately can be ascertained. The authors found that two species of wild rodents (Peromyscus leucopus and Sigmodon hispidus) living at a dump site polluted with a complex mixture of oil, grease, polychlorinated biphenols, hexachlorobenzene, zinc, manganese, cadmium, chromium, copper, and lead had significantly higher frequencies of chromosomal aberrations than did animals from two unpolluted control sites. These data suggest that resident small mammals may be useful as in situ monitors of the presence and action of mutagenic pollutants in the environment. This study was conducted to determine if changes in patternsmore » of DNA content indicative of the action of mutagens could be detected by flow cytometric analysis of tissues from these same animals.« less