Mutagenic activity of lake water samples used as drinking water resources in Northern Italy

The three main lakes in Northern Italy (Como, Garda and Maggiore) were studied in order to investigate their potential mutagenic activity in relation to their present use as drinking water supplies. Lakewater samples were collected by an automatic autosampler, concentrated in situ with a XAD-2 filled column and tested with the Ames assay (TA98 and TA100 strains with and without S9 addition). The results of the Ames test show that the highest water mutagenic activity is obtained when TA98 strain with S9 mix is used, moreover they indicate higher mutagenic response in Come lakewaters than in the two other lake samples. The chemical characterization of the water extracts were carried out quantifying some agricultural and industrial organic micropollutants with GC-NPD techniques and identifying the main water chemical composition with GC-MS. The chemical analysis allowed the identification of some pollutants that may be responsible for a fraction of the observed lake water mutagenicity. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.