Genotoxicants in marine and freshwater fish of the Barents Sea Basin

A comparative genotoxicity of marine and freshwater fish as indicators of the ecological hazard of the aquatic environment of the Barents Sea basin was analyzed. We used the Ames Salmonella/microsomes test to study mutagenicity of various tissues and liver fat of polar cod, sea bass, common whitefish and river bass with subsequent chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of liver fat samples for the content of genotoxicants (organic pollutants). No significant excess of mutagenic activity was found in all fish samples except polar cod liver fat and sea bass liver fat. Promutagenic action caused gene mutations of both frameshifting and base pair substitution. Analysis of fat samples using the method of chromatography-mass spectrometry confirmed the presence of persistent organic pollutants in marine fish fat. The findings indicate that at present the ecology of the Barents Sea basin rivers is in more favorable conditions than the ecology of this sea.