Evaluating genotoxic effects of plants exposed to heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at dumpsite, mechanic workshop and metal scrap site in Lagos

Soil contamination from heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from dumpsite, automobile mechanic workshop and metal scrap sites pose human and ecological health risks. This study assesses the levels of heavy metals and PAHs in soils from these sites and their effects on the DNA yield and fragmentation of native plants around there. The DNA yield and fragmentation were compared to those obtained from non-polluted sites (control). DNA of the plants species, Musa acuminata (banana), Jatropha curcas (Barbados nut), Carica papaya (pawpaw), Axonopus compressus (carpet grass), Sida acuta (wireweed), and Eleucine indica (crabgrass grass) for polluted sites and control were analyzed using Gel electrophoresis. Soil heavy metals; copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) were evaluated from dumpsite, metal area and mechanic workshop using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were also determined from soils of the polluted sites using the GC/MS spectrophotometry. The result obtained from the DNA analysis showed that DNA yield and fragmentation of the polluted plants had higher indices than the controls which shows that heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons affect the DNA of the plants. The effects of the pollutants on DNA of polluted plants had more smearing in their tissue than non-polluted plants. Heavy metals evaluation showed that zinc level was the highest in all the study sites; dumpsite, metal area and mechanic workshop (5.146 mg/kg, 2.709 mg/kg and 1.990 mg/kg respectively) than the control (p<0.05). Chromium was the least present (0.022 mg/kg, 0.018 mg/kg and 0.002 mg/kg respectively). The results of this study indicate that dumpsite, mechanic workshop and metal scrap sites are potential sources of PAH and toxic metal, which can pose serious human health and ecological risks.Keywords: DNA fragmentation, heavy metals, Gel electrophoresis, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbo