You are here:
IN SITU ASSESSMENT OF GENOTOXIC HAZARDS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Citation:
Sandhu, S. AND W. Lower. IN SITU ASSESSMENT OF GENOTOXIC HAZARDS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-89/041 (NTIS PB90103607).
Description:
The potential impact of environmental pollutants on human health can be evaluated by laboratory analysis of environmental samples or by measurement of biological effects on indigenous populations and/or specific test organisms placed in the environment to be monitored. he organisms most commonly used to assess mutagenicicy under real-world conditions are flowering plants, wild and captive mammals, and aquatic vertebrates. Plant species have been used to monitor ambient air quality around several major industrial cites in the USA, nuclear power plants, and industrial waste sites, and also to assess potential health effects of municipal sewage sludges. omestic animals can be used as sentinels to provide information on effects of contaminants in the environment and have been used to a limited extent to evaluate environmental influences on the occurrence of breast cancer and osteosarcoma. ytogenetic analysis from feral and wild animals has been employed to assess health hazards and prioritize clean-up efforts at hazardous waste sites. quatic animals have been used more often than terrestrial animals or plants to identify and characterize the genotoxic effects of environmental pollution. he limitations of in situ environmental assessment are lack of control over physical environmental components, inherent variability and interactions of test organisms, lack of control of exposure doses, and difficulty of finding concurrent experimental controls. Nevertheless, flowering plants, terrestrial, and aquatic animals may serve as useful sentinels and biomarkers of environmental pollution.