DNA Damage of Caffeine in the Cichlid Fish Australoheros facetus as a Tool for Genotoxicity Risk Assessmet in Latin America Aquatic Ecosystems

LAVARELLO FRANCISCO; CALDERON GABRIELA; ITURBURU FERNANDO GASTÓN; MENONE MIRTA LUJÁN

Congreso; 11th SETAC Young Environmental Scientists Meeting.; 2022

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Caffeine is a chemical compound present in a wide variety of food and pharmaceutical products, and it has been reported in aquatic ecosystems all around the world. Due its ubiquity and the possibility of triggering effects on aquatic biota, it is considered as a contaminant of emerging concern. The present work aims on evaluating DNA damage caused by caffeine exposure on the Neotropical fish species Australoheros facetus, in order to assess the genotoxicity Risk in Latin America Aquatic Ecosystems. For this purpose, an acute bioassay was settled exposing fish of this species to 0 (negative control), 0.4, 4, 40 and 400 ug/L of caffeine. After exposure, blood samples were taken and DNA damage was evaluated in red cells through single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). The maximum admissible toxicant concentration (MATC) was obtained (126 ug/L), and this concentration was compared to caffeine reported environmental concentrations (103 reports), corresponding to four countries of Latin America. Ten percent of the sites showed a high genotoxic risk, while 19 % showed possible risk for aquatic organisms when the maximum measured concentrations were considered.