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Evaluation of genotoxic damage in wild rodents from a polluted area in the Czech Republic

A b s t r a c t. An integrated system of evaluation of genotoxic damage was employed in two rodent species (Clethrionomys glareolus, Apodemus flavicollis) collected in a polluted and a control site in northern Bohemia. Elevated concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Mn, Pb, Cu, Zn) were found in soil samples from the polluted site. Significantly higher concentrations of certain non-essential heavy metals were observed in kidney and liver of the animals studied in the polluted site, however, temporal variation between years and seasons was significant. Heavy metals originating from industrial aerial pollution may be not distinctly reflected in tissue concentrations recorded in small terrestrial rodents, in contrast to soil pollution resulting from mine works and/or from road traffic. In the same animal samples, micronucleus test and sperm abnormalities assays were used to study the correlation between environmental pollution and genetic damage. Higher genotoxic damage was demonstrated in the animals collected in the polluted site. Micronuclei frequencies appeared to be more suitable markers of mutagenicity than those of abnormal sperms. A. flavicollis seems to be a more suitable model in studies of environmental genotoxicity than C. glareolus.