Testing quality of sea water from the Adriatic coast of Croatia with toxicity, genotoxicity and DNA integrity tests

Abstract

        The quality of sea water along the Adriatic coast of Croatia was evaluated three times during 1.5 years at 16 sites located in protected, urban, industrial, harbor or brackish areas. Samples of sea water (30 l) were tested by the Microtox test for toxicity and the umu-test for genotoxicity. Samples of mussel gills (5 individuals, Mytilus galloprovincialis) were collected from each sampling site and the Fast Micromethod® was used to test DNA integrity, which may have been altered by water contaminants. According to the Microtox text, 75% of the water samples were potentially toxic. According to the umu-test, 40% were potentially genotoxic. Alteration of DNA integrity was detected in 40% of the mussel gill samples.