DNA damage and repair process in earthworm after in-vivo and in vitro exposure to soils irrigated by wastewaters

In this study, DNA damage to earthworms (Eisenia fetida) after in vivo exposure to contaminated soils was measured by detecting DNA strand breakages (DSBs) and causality was analyzed through fractionation based bioassays. A non-linear dose-response relationship existed between DNA damage and total soil PAHs levels. DNA damage, measured with the comet assay, and its repair process, were observed. To identify the chemical causality, an in vitro comet assay using coelomocytes was subsequently performed on the fractionated organic extracts from soils. The results showed that the PAHs in the soils were responsible for the exerting genotoxic effects on earthworms. When normalized to benzo(a)pyrene toxic equivalent (TEQ(BaP)), the saturation dose in the dose-response curve was about 10ng TEQ(BaP) g(-1) soil (dw).