Effect of heavy metals on toxicogenetic damage of European eelsAnguilla anguilla

Aquatic organisms are exposed to a variety of contaminants such as heavy metals introduced into the environment as a consequence of anthropogenic activities that usually cause genotoxic damage in aquatic organisms. DNA damage biomarkers for fish species detect genotoxic parameters for ecological risk assessment. In the present study, the effect of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn, Co, and Mn) on DNA damage ofAnguilla anguillawas examined by comet assay at reference site and three different sampling sites of the Orontes River. The relative mean heavy metal concentrations in water column were in the order of Fe>Cr>Pb>Zn>Ni>Cu>Mn>Cd>Co in all the sampling sites. Cr, Cd, and Pb concentrations at all sampling sites were above the values allowed by the EPA (1999,2016). With these results, negative effects of Cr, Cd, and Pb appeared on ecosystem health. The comet assay showed a higher level of DNA damage in the gill cells in comparison with the liver cells ofA. anguilla. The highest level of DNA damage as %T-DNA, tail moment, and tail migration in gill cells were 20.007 +/- 1.744 %; 2.899 +/- 0.341 mu m, and 12.383 +/- 01.040 TM(i)and 20.172 +/- 1.944 %, 2.559 +/- 0.265 mu m, and 10.763 +/- 0.910 TM(i)at Site 2 and Site 3, respectively. The correlations between heavy metals and DNA damage parameters revealed that both Cu and Co in water showed significant negative correlations (p< 0.05) with DNA damage levels. Consequently, this study revealed the genotoxic damage ofA. anguilladue to pollution in Orontes River and lead to the better understanding of genotoxicity and heavy metal relationships.