Assessment of the contamination level of the complex phosphate miner of Jorf-Lasfar effluents (El Jadida,Morocco) by measuring the DNA adducts in the Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis)

The levels of dna adducts in hepatic tissue of the mussel (mytilus galloprovincialis) were determined by 32p-postlabelling. mussels were collected at four sites located at different distances from the phosphate complex miner effluent of jorf-lasfar (at 17 km from el jadida city) in morocco. results showed that total dna adduct levels in all mussels ranged from 38-90 adducts per 109nucleotides.the mean adduct level (± standard deviation) in the mussel increases gradually toward the outlet of the effluent of the complex miner phosphate. the rate of dna adducts detected at st or control station (at 28 km of the complex) is 38 nucleotides per 109 nucleotides,while 52 adducts per 109 nucleotides were detected at station 1 (at 2 km of the complex),and 90 adducts per 109 nucleotides were detected at stations 2 and 3 (at 0.5 km and 1 km from the discharge point of the complex,respectively). moreover,dna adducts of the mussels collected at all stations showed the same chromatographic profile including 11 minor and 3 major spots. their rate of dna adduct vary between 0.2 and 33.5. these results obtained during this investigation suggest that the effluents of many heavy industries (energy,metallurgy and chemistry/husbandry) are more likely to produce genotoxic damage to mussels.