COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF CYTO/GENOTOXICITY OF COMMERCIAL DRINKING WATERS PACKAGED IN PET AND GLASS, USING Allium cepa L.TEST

Drinking water quality is considered a determinant environmental factor for human health. The purpose of this paper was to screen the possible toxicity of chemicals released into commercial natural waters made in Albania, bottled in PET material by using Allium bio-test. There were evaluated rates and types of cyto/chromosomal aberrations in meristematic root cells of onions, grown in four commercial waters bottled both in PET and glass. Samples were stored under different conditions: (1) controlled storage (no direct light exposure) or preliminary storage time (PST) for 8 weeks, (2) PST and storage at 40°C for 10 days, in the dark for 10 days and (3) PST and exposure to sunlight and varying temperatures for 16 weeks. The results were compared with tap water (control). Based on the number of dividing cells (NDC), phase index (PI), rate and types of chromosomal aberrations (CA), all PET samples caused significant cyto/genotoxic effects, compared to glass and tap water samples, independently of storage conditions. Toxic effects were detected even after PST (time period compatible to respective normal expiry date). Storage conditions resulted important, demonstrated by the noticeable high level of CA in experiment 3, because of direct sunlight exposure. CA rate was higher in experiment 2 and 3 than 1 (not significant), even in glass. The most frequent CA types resulted bridges and fragments. The Allium test used in the present study resulted to be an available, simple and short-term bioassay to detect the chemical quality of packaged commercial waters.