The In Vitro Effect of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether on DNA of Blood Cells (Rutilus caspicus) by Comet Assay

MTBE increases oxygen consumption as well as reducing carbon monoxide and air pollution. It is very dynamic in soil, and its movement in water is a function of water movement in soil. MTBE is resistant to biodegradation, its half-life in water is long, its absorption in soil particles is weak, having high solubility in water, and being very dynamic. This research was aimed at investigating DNA blood cells of Rutilus caspicus in concentrations of 50, 100 and 150 mg/L MTBE for 7, 14 and 21 days. The mean temperature of water was 19 ± 1°C, water oxygen was 7.6 ± 0.2 mg/l, and salinity was considered zero. 220 R. caspicus with an average body length of 150 ± 30 mm and a weight of 15 ± 3 grams were prepared from Sijawal multiplication workshop located at the Turkmen port in Golestan Province and transferred to the laboratory by means of bags containing water (1/3) and oxygen (2/3). After the adaptation period, 13 fish were placed in 50-liter aquariums. The total number of control aquariums was three, and the number of treatment aquariums was nine. In the first, second and third weeks of the test, three fish were randomly taken from each aquarium and their blood samples were collected. After performing the determined stages, the blood samples of the fish were fixed on the slide and kept in the refrigerator for observation with a fluorescence microscope. In this study, Casp 1.2.3b1 software was used to evaluate the DNA degradation. In this software, several examples of alkaline comet data are extracted in data form. The results of this study showed that there was a significant difference between the control and other treatments in terms of DNA degradation. Furthermore, with increasing exposure time, the amount of DNA damage significantly increased (p < 0.01).