Mutagens in Surface and Waste Water

In the last years it became evident that surface and waste waters contain a lot of mutagenic contaminants which can be detected and identified with suitable methods (1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10). In a collaborative research project with the Bundesgesundheitsamt, Institut fur Wasser-, Boden- und Lufthygiene, Berlin (sampling, extraction, and chemical analysis), and the Gesellschaft fur Strahlen- und Umweltforschung, Institut fur Toxikologie, Munich (Ames-test) native water samples and extracts were also tested for mutagenic effects in the cell line V79. It was the aim of the study to develop a combined method for the detection and valuation of mutagenicity in water samples. Mutagenic compounds could be detected in water from various sources in a wide range of concentrations in extracts and native water samples.