Safety Evaluation of River Water and Tap Water in the Shinano River Downstream Region by Ames Mutagenicity Assay.

Contamination of the Shinano River Water with Mutagenic Substances after the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake

“…Our findings appear to be in agreement with those reported by several researchers (Sayoto et al 1990;Otsu et al 1998). In other studies, however, compounds adsorbed with XAD-2 from the Shinano River water (Tanaka et al 1993) or with CSP-800 or PS-2 resin from the Shinano River water when chlorinated (Komatsu et al 2004) showed positive mutagenicity in the test of TA100. This discrep- ancy may have been caused by the difference of the water samples used in the studies in addition to the difference of adsorbent material.…”

“…The present study revealed that the mutagenicity of the Shinano River water tended to be higher at the downstream site. A similar result was reported in an earlier study (Komatsu et al 2004). Otsu et al (1998) reported that high mutagenicity of Korean river water was seen in an industrial district.…”

“…Seasonal changes in the mutagenicity of the Shinano River water were previously reported by Komatsu et al (2004). Additionally, previous studies demonstrated that the mutagenicity of tap water in Niigata City (Shibuya et al 1993) and in several other areas of Japan (Urano et al 1995) tended to be higher in winter than in summer.…”

“…However, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity derived from trace compounds in river water have received a lot of attention in terms of their possible effects on human health (Kinae et al 1992). There have also been studies on the mutagenicity of tap water (Shibuya et al 1993) and of river water and tap water (Sayoto et al 1993;Tanaka et al 1993;Komatsu et al 2004) using the Ames test (Maron and Ames 1983). In other studies, relationships between the mutagenicity of water, bottom sediment, or particulate matter and the concentration of poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been reported.…”