Current Approaches to the Evaluation of Soil Genotoxicity

Abstract

© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Increasing human population, industrial activity, and intensive methods in agriculture have led to the release of various pollutants in soil, water, and air. While many organic compounds can be degraded by indigenous micro- and phytoflora, some pollutants are not degradable and accumulate in the environment. This requires regular monitoring of their presence for modeling and prognosis of their distribution and possible ecological risks. Conventionally all contaminants are classified by their effects on living organisms to the toxic and genotoxic ones. Toxic compounds lead to organism death, but genotoxic agents affect the genetic machinery of the cells causing mutations which can then be transmitted to offspring. The majority of pollutants have both toxic and genotoxic effects at high and low concentrations respectively. To date, various approaches to different fields of environmental toxicology for predicting the presence of toxic and mutagenic substances in soils are suggested. These tests can be classified by either biological system employed (bacteria, plants, or animals) or genetic endpoint detected. In this paper, we will review these experimental approaches, the level of their universality, advantages, and pitfalls when evaluating the mutagenic potential of contaminated soils.