In recent years, the town of Settat has seen a considerable industrial growth, which has resulted in increased environmental pollution. This includes pollution by household and industrial wastewaters, which are released into the Boumoussa River without any preliminary treatment. The river valley crosses the community of Mzamza 8 km to the north of the town. Years of drought forced members of the community to use this polluted ground water for irrigation and put themselves and the environment at risk. The aim of this study was to determine the physicochemical and metal profi le of Settat wastewaters and to assess their impact on the water table. The second objective was to investigate the genotoxic potential of wastewater on human peripheral blood lymphocytes in vitro, using the micronucleus test and cellular proliferation index. This study demonstrated signifi cant pollution of Boumoussa valley groundwater and of the local wells. Sampled water induced a clear increase in the frequency of micronucleated cells and a lower cell proliferation in human peripheral blood lymphocytes in vitro.

A cytogenetic biomonitoring study was performed on people from the Mzamza community near Settat, Morocco. These subjects live in and near the Bou Moussa valley where wastewaters from a great number of industries are discharged without any treatment. This wastewater is used as a source of drinking water for their cattle and irrigation of their land. The Mzamza population is therefore presumably exposed to continuous low doses of different kinds of pollutants. Our study demonstrated significant increases in micronucleated white blood cells indicating a considerable genetic risk in these subjects.

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