DNA Damage in Vicia faba by Exposure to Agricultural Soils from Tlaxcala, Mexico.

The aim of this research was to quantify some POPs, such as p,p′ DDT, p,p′ DDE, and PCBs in agricultural soils of Tlaxcala, Mexico and evaluate their capacity for eliciting DNA damage, using Vicia faba as bioindicator. The values of ΣDDTs and ΣPCBs ranged from 8–24 to 118–26,983 µg/kg, respectively. The samples T1 (HQ = 9.3) and T2 (HQ = 53.9) showed concentrations of ΣPCBs higher than Canadian guidelines (SQGE = 500 µg/kg). The genotoxicity testing produced percentages of DNA fragmentation higher than negative control and statistically significant (p < 0.05), both in agricultural soils and organic extracts. The soils T2, T3, N4, and N5 showed a DICA from 2.6 to 3.1 times, statistically higher (p < 0.05) than negative control. In general, the agricultural soils have greater genotoxic capacity than the organic extracts, suggesting a potential risk to biota that depends upon this ecosystem.