Geno- And Cytotoxicologic Assessment Of Wastewater Effluents With A Novel Flow Cytometric Sperm Toxicity Assay

The worldwide diminution of freshwater resources assigns high priority importance to wastewater treatment. The cleaning efficiency of wastewater treatment plants are growing, however there still might be various harmful components in effluents, not monitored or detected with the currently applied assays.

We analyzed the impact of two Hungarian wastewater effluent samples from a wastewater treatment plant on certain cellular parameters of boar spermatozoa. The changes in mitochondrial transmembrane potential, oxidative DNA lesions and DNA fragmentation were assessed with flow cytometry. Results showed significant changes in all measured parameters as compared to controls.

These results point to deficiencies of present wastewater treatment systems and remind us to improve them. Moreover, the use of this test offers an easy and ethical alternative in toxicology monitoring.

The authors are thankful for the financial support of TÁMOP-4.1.1.C-12/1/KONV-2012-0017  „Green energy” –Higher education sector cooperation for development of green economy on the field of energetics project.