Measurement of genotoxicity in wastewater samples with the in vitro micronucleus test - results of a round-robin study in the context of standardisation according to ISO

In the course of standardisation of the in vitro micronucleus test for analysis of effluents according to ISO, a national round-robin study was organised by the German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), involving 10 laboratories of private companies, universities and public authorities. The micronucleus assay was performed with the permanently growing Chinese hamster lung fibroblast cell line V79. All participants tested four encoded samples from one municipal and one industrial wastewater treatment plant with and without metabolic activation by S9-mix. Two of these samples were spiked in advance with defined concentrations of the clastogenic substances cyclophosphamide and mitomycin C, respectively. Cyclophosphamide and ethyl methanesulfonate were used as positive controls. The defined assessment criterion for genotoxicity was the lowest dilution of a sample that does not show any significant induction of micronuclei. Cytotoxicity was judged by determining the cell-survival index, i.e. the percentage growth rate of the cells compared with the corresponding negative controls. As supplementary qualitative criteria, the mitotic index and the proliferation index were assessed. All participants successfully established the method within a few weeks and generated viable test results in time. The two non-genotoxic samples were detected as negative by 90% (with S9-mix) and 95% (without S9-mix) of the participants. The mitomycin C-spiked wastewater sample (expected to be positive without S9-mix supplementation) was correctly judged as positive by all laboratories. The cyclophosphamide-spiked sample (expected to be positive with S9-mix addition) was evaluated correctly as genotoxic by 80% of the laboratories. A post-test analysis found evidence that the false negative results were due to technical failure, but not of a methodological nature. In 94% of all tests the sample LID values (lowest ineffective dilution = dilution stage of the sample in the test at which a statistically significant increase in the micronucleus rate was not detectable any more) varied by no more than one dilution step around the median LID value. The survival index was proven to be a robust measure for estimation of toxicity. This round-robin study is the first inter-laboratory comparison of the in vitro micronucleus test using wastewater samples. The test system is intended to complement the already DIN- and ISO-standardised bacterial tests, i.e. the umu-test and the Ames plate-incorporation assay. The data provide evidence that the robust and practicable in vitro micronucleus test is suitable as a routine method for wastewater testing.