Joint effects of heavy metal binary mixtures on seed germination, root and shoot growth, bacterial bioluminescence, and gene mutation.

This investigation was to assess the joint effects of metal binary mixtures on seed germination, root and shoot growth, bacterial bioluminescence, and gene mutation based on the one toxic unit (1 TU) approach. Different sensitivities and orders of toxicity of metal mixtures were observed among the bioassays. In general, mostly additive or antagonistic effects were observed, while almost no synergistic effects by the binary metal mixtures in all bioassays. Therefore, the combined effects of heavy metals in the different bioassays were difficult to generalize since they were dependent on both chemical type and the organism used in each bioassay. However, these results indicate that a battery of bioassays with mixture chemicals as opposed to just a single assay with single metal is a better strategy for the bioassessment of environmental pollutants.