Evaluation of wastewater genotoxicity in a Lebanese University hospital with and without metabolic activation

Abstract

Hospital wastewater poses a serious environmental and health hazard due to its genotoxic composition. The aim of this study was to determine the genotoxic activity of a Lebanese University Hospitals wastewater. The wastewaters genotoxicity was evaluated by the SOS chromotest (using Escherichia coli PQ37) and the Ames Fluctuation Test (using Salmonella typhimurium TA 98) with and without metabolic activation. The samples were collected from five different pits, twice daily, in the morning and the afternoon during a fiveday period in February 2011. This study showed that metabolic activation increased the genotoxicity of the wastewater samples as tested by the SOS chromotest and Ames Fluctuation Test. Around 35% of the samples tested by the SOS chromotest were genotoxic without metabolic activation, whereas around 60% of the same samples tested were genotoxic with metabolic activation. Similarly, 50% of the samples tested using the Ames Fluctuation Test exhibited an increase in their genotoxic activity when tested with metabolic activation.