Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of water and sediment samples from gypsum mining area in channel catfish ovary (CCO) cells

• Testing cyto- and genotoxicity of gypsum mine contaminated water and sediment.
• Using fish CCO cell line.
• WST-1 and alkaline comet assay obtained decrease in cell viability.
• WST-1 and alkaline comet assay revealed increased DNA damages.
• Usefulness of biological test-system for water management.

Man-made activities such as mining generate certain amounts of metal contaminated wastes which can reach aquatic environment and cause the serious effects on different organisms and ecosystem. Chemical analysis of the environmental samples is the most direct approach to reveal their pollution status but it cannot always provide information on biological effects to different organisms, including fish. This study was aimed to investigate the in vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of water and sediment samples from gypsum mining area using the channel catfish ovary (CCO) cell line. Results obtained by the WST-1 assay and alkaline comet assay revealed that exposure of CCO cells to the same concentrations of contaminated water and sediment samples caused significant decrease in cell viability and increased DNA damages. Chemical analysis of water and sediment samples showed that increased concentrations of strontium, aluminum and iron were mainly responsible for the observed cytotoxic and genotoxic effects in CCO cells. The study suggested that fish CCO cells could be useful biological test-system for water and sediment cytotoxicity and genotoxicity assessments.