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Relative Genotoxic Assessment of Structural Configuration of Nitro Explosives and Their Amines Using Comet Assay in Earthworms

Dilip M.Sathe, Parag S. Juvale, Vijay L. Markad, Satyawati S. Joshi, Kisan M. Kodam, Vikram S. Ghole

Nitro explosives are toxic in nature and hence the methods of their disposal need to be improved, such that they do not impose any hazards to the environment. Earthworms Dicogaster curgensis, were used as model organisms in this study. Earthworms were exposed to the nitro explosives (tri nitro toluene and tri nitro phenol) and to their corresponding amines, to compare the genotoxicity of the nitro and amino derivatives. It was observed that amino groups attached to carbon atoms in the aromatic rings, aided in reduction of genotoxicity as compared to the parent nitro explosives. We confirmed that the use of filter paper contact method, followed by comet assay is a sensitive method to evaluate the DNA damage induced by tri-nitro toluene and tri-nitro phenol in earthworm coelomocytes. In this paper, we also discuss the possibility that increased toxicity of nitro aromatic explosives might be attributed to the presence of a nitro group, specifically at 2' position in the aromatic ring.