Abstract

This study aimed at determining the genotoxic effects of different environmental pollutants in Bazian cement factory in Bazian district, Iraq. Three species of plants viz., Platycladus orientalis, Eucalyptus spp. and Melia azedarach were studied. These plants were collected from areas in and near the cement factory, while the control of this study was one collected from area far from the pollution sources. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) was used for estimation of the pollution status of some heavy metal concentrations (Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Fe, Cu and Zn). Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) revealed new bands and/or disappearing of normal bands in comparison with control samples. In this study, the mean of heavy metal concentrations for all species of plants was below 100 mg/kg and resembled sample results of control. Statistical results for heavy metals in plant leaves indicated significant differences only among sites for most metals. The lowest was level of Genomic Template Stability (GTS) ratios which are related to CCR samples followed by Gate3 and Out. This is in agreement with distances from main stack, respectively, and might have led to a high level of genotoxic effect on three plants’ species (68.36, 69.38 and 89.79%; 79.2, 83.16 and 89.1% and 79.12, 87.91 and 99.94), respectively. Different primers (25) were examined. Twenty primers only resulted in reproducible and clear bands. The current study showed that the samples of the selected plants were suitable for the detection of genetic toxicity. The RAPD technique used was suitable for the study of genetic toxicity. The use of plants, which are indicated as biomarker indicator in the early detection of genetic toxicity factors, was highly sensitive in assessing the effect of air pollution.