Potential genotoxicity of wastewater-contaminated pore waters with comparison to sediment toxicity and macrobenthic community composition.

The objectives of this survey were to determine the genotoxic potential of sediment pore waters above and below 10 wastewater outfalls and to compare the results to sediment chemical quality guidelines, acute toxicity, and macrobenthic community composition. The focus of the study was on genotoxicity since its occurrence in environmental media below wastewater discharges in the Gulf of Mexico region has not been reported in the scientific literature. Pore waters from 43 sediment samples were assayed using a microbial mutagenicity assay before and after activation with a rat liver microsome mix (S-9). A combination of either direct or activated responses was observed for 40% of the pore waters. Direct, activated, and both direct and activated responses were observed in 5, 26, and 9% of the total samples, respectively. Mutagenic effects were observed below 7 of the 10 outfall areas and in 4 of 6 control areas associated with 6 outfalls. The lowest pore water concentrations causing an activated mutagenic response were statistically similar above and below the outfalls. Mutagenicity occurred more frequently than acute toxicity to estuarine and freshwater invertebrates and there was no consistent relationship between its occurrence and the exceedance of sediment chemical quality guidelines. In contrast, there was some indication that mutagenic activity paralleled low benthic community diversity.