Biomonitoramento para avaliação do potencial genotóxico da água do Arroio Clarimundo localizado no município de Cerro Largo – RS, Brasil

Abstract

Countless pollution factors can generate changes in water quality and in water dependent organisms, since they can carry mutagenic, genotoxic and cytotoxic substances, which affect the genetic integrity of living beings. The Arroio Clarimundo, a river located in Cerro Largo county, at Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil, flows through an agricultural area and bypasses the Cerro Largo city, receiving domestic raw wastewaters. This work aimed to evaluate the genotoxic potential of Arroio Clarimundo waters with Allium cepa bioassay, usually used in biomonitoring studies. The analysis were performed by collecting the water, four samples for each season, in three specific river locations. The Allium cepa bulb were germinated during 72, three bulbs for each sample collected, and three bulbs in distilled water for control parameter. Then, the roots were submitted to a modified Feulgen protocol, in order to do the microscopic slides. Alteration on the mitotic index and chromosomic alterations were observed. The data were statistical analyzed with Qui-Quadrat test and the results suggest the Arroio Clarimundo water can potentially cause damage to the eukaryotes genome