Rapidity of RNA synthesis in human cells: A highly sensitive parameter for water cytotoxicity evaluation

To set up an in vitro cytotoxicity test much more sensitive that the currently available tests, toxic samples were directly assayed on eleven different human cell subcellular targets. This comparison clearly indicated that the rapidity of cellular RNA synthesis was the most sensitive target to many pollutants. When used in the water field this quantitative test does not require preliminary concentration of the water toxic compounds and, in the case of polluted river waters, requires the samples to be diluted. The application domain of the test was shown to be very large, ranging from surface and ground waters to drinking and mineral bottled waters.