Flörs Markus, Schertzinger Gerhard, Pannekens Helena, Seitz Wolfram, Zwiener Christian, Winzenbacher Rudi
Zweckverband Landeswasserversorgung, Laboratory for Operation Control and Research, Langenau, Germany.
Department of Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2025 Mar 1;44(3):662-673. doi: 10.1093/etojnl/vgae076.
Monitoring of genotoxic chemicals released into the water cycle or formed through transformation processes is critical to prevent harm to human health. The development of the high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC)-umu bioassay combines sample separation and detection of genotoxic substances in the low ng/L concentration range. In this study, raw, process, and drinking water samples from 11 different waterworks in Germany were analyzed using the HPTLC-umu. A genotoxic response was detected in three out of 42 samples (one raw water sample and two drinking water samples). Genotoxicity testing using the micronucleus and p53-CALUX (chemical activated luciferase gene expression) assays revealed genotoxic effects for the raw water sample and one of the drinking water samples. Fortunately, only minor genotoxic effects could be detected in the two drinking water samples, with estimated 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide equivalency concentrations of 0.12 ng/L and 0.17 ng/L, respectively. After extraction of the genotoxic zones from HPTLC plates, identification attempts were conducted with nontarget analysis (NTA). A prioritization approach based on chlorine and bromine isotope pattern revealed several halogenated features for both drinking water samples. These tentatively identified substances were previously reported in the literature as possible carcinogens. Although the detected features could not be conclusively identified, the presence of halogenated features in the genotoxic effective zone of the HPTLC-umu assay strongly suggests that the chlorine disinfection process in both waterworks was responsible for the formation of the genotoxic substances in the drinking water samples. These findings emphasize that the HPTLC-umu in combination with additional genotoxicity assays and NTA can be used to evaluate even relatively clean samples, such as drinking water.
监测释放到水循环中或通过转化过程形成的基因毒性化学物质对于预防对人类健康的危害至关重要。高性能薄层色谱（HPTLC）-umu生物测定法的发展结合了样品分离和低ng/L浓度范围内基因毒性物质的检测。在本研究中，使用HPTLC-umu对德国11个不同水厂的原水、处理水和饮用水样本进行了分析。在42个样本中有3个检测到了基因毒性反应（1个原水样本和2个饮用水样本）。使用微核和p53-CALUX（化学激活荧光素酶基因表达）测定法进行的基因毒性测试显示，原水样本和其中一个饮用水样本存在基因毒性效应。幸运的是，在这两个饮用水样本中仅检测到轻微的基因毒性效应，估计4-硝基喹啉-N-氧化物等效浓度分别为0.12 ng/L和0.17 ng/L。从HPTLC板上提取基因毒性区域后，尝试用非目标分析（NTA）进行鉴定。基于氯和溴同位素模式的优先排序方法揭示了两个饮用水样本中的几种卤代特征。这些初步鉴定的物质在文献中先前被报道为可能的致癌物。尽管检测到的特征无法最终确定，但HPTLC-umu测定法的基因毒性有效区域中卤代特征的存在强烈表明，两个水厂的氯消毒过程是饮用水样本中基因毒性物质形成的原因。这些发现强调，HPTLC-umu与其他基因毒性测定法和NTA相结合可用于评估甚至相对清洁的样本，如饮用水。
