Research Article

International round-robin study on the Ames fluctuation test

  1. G. Reifferscheid1,*,
  2. H.M. Maes2,
  3. B. Allner3,
  4. J. Badurova4,
  5. S. Belkin5,
  6. K. Bluhm6,
  7. F. Brauer7,
  8. J. Bressling8,
  9. S. Domeneghetti9,
  10. T. Elad5,
  11. S. Flückiger-Isler10,
  12. H.J. Grummt11,
  13. R. Gürtler12,
  14. A. Hecht5,
  15. M.B. Heringa13,
  16. H. Hollert6,
  17. S. Huber14,
  18. M. Kramer15,
  19. A. Magdeburg16,
  20. H.T. Ratte2,
  21. R. Sauerborn-Klobucar17,
  22. A. Sokolowski18,
  23. P. Soldan4,
  24. T. Smital17,
  25. D. Stalter16,
  26. P. Venier9,
  27. Chr. Ziemann19,
  28. J. Zipperle20,
  29. S. Buchinger1

Article first published online: 4 JAN 2012

DOI: 10.1002/em.21677

Additional Information

How to Cite

Reifferscheid, G., Maes, H., Allner, B., Badurova, J., Belkin, S., Bluhm, K., Brauer, F., Bressling, J., Domeneghetti, S., Elad, T., Flückiger-Isler, S., Grummt, H., Gürtler, R., Hecht, A., Heringa, M., Hollert, H., Huber, S., Kramer, M., Magdeburg, A., Ratte, H., Sauerborn-Klobucar, R., Sokolowski, A., Soldan, P., Smital, T., Stalter, D., Venier, P., Ziemann, C., Zipperle, J. and Buchinger, S. (2012), International round-robin study on the Ames fluctuation test. Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis. doi: 10.1002/em.21677

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Biochemistry/Ecotoxicology, Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Koblenz 56068, Germany

  2. 2

    Chair of Environmental Biology and Chemodynamics, Institute of Environmental Research (Bio5), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52056, Germany

  3. 3

    GOBIO-GmbH, Institut für Gewässerökologie und angewandte Biologie, Aarbergen 65326, Germany

  4. 4

    Výzkumný ústav vodohospodárský T. G. Masaryka, v.v.i., pobocka Ostrava, 702 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

  5. 5

    Institute for Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel

  6. 6

    Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute of Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany

  7. 7

    Federal Environment Agency, FG III 2.5 Überwachungsverfahren, Abwasserentsorgung 58, 12307 Berlin, Germany

  8. 8

    Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany

  9. 9

    Department of Biology, Università degli studi di Padova, Padova 35121, Italy

  10. 10

    Xenometrix AG, Allschwil 4123, Switzerland

  11. 11

    Federal Environment Agency, Bad Elster Branch, Bad Elster 08645, Germany

  12. 12

    Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Department of Food Safety, Berlin 14195, Germany

  13. 13

    KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Nieuwegein 3430 BB, The Netherlands

  14. 14

    Bavarian Environment Agency, Bioassays/Microbial Ecology, München 80539, Germany

  15. 15

    RheinEnergie AG, 50823 Köln, Germany

  16. 16

    Biological Sciences Division, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt 60054, Germany

  17. 17

    Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb 10000, Croatia

  18. 18

    Harlan Cytotest Cell Research GmbH, Rossdorf 64380, Germany

  19. 19

    Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM), Genetic Toxicology, Hannover 30625, Germany

  20. 20

    State Institute for Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation Baden-Württemberg (LUBW), Karlsruhe 76185, Germany

*Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Department of Biochemistry/Ecotoxicology, Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068 Koblenz, Germany

Publication History

  1. Article first published online: 4 JAN 2012
  2. Manuscript Accepted: 17 NOV 2011
  3. Manuscript Revised: 16 NOV 2011
  4. Manuscript Received: 14 JUL 2011

Funded by

  • A part of the round-robin study was sponsored by the German Federal Environmental Agency. Grant Number: 363 01 276
  • The Joint Research Programme of the Dutch water utilities (BTO)

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (465K)

Keywords:

  • mutagenicity;
  • genotoxicity;
  • ISO;
  • standardisation;
  • round-robin study;
  • Ames fluctuation test

Abstract

An international round-robin study on the Ames fluctuation test [ISO 11350, 2012], a microplate version of the classic plate-incorporation method for the detection of mutagenicity in water, wastewater and chemicals was performed by 18 laboratories from seven countries. Such a round-robin study is a precondition for both the finalization of the ISO standardization process and a possible regulatory implementation in water legislation. The laboratories tested four water samples (spiked/nonspiked) and two chemical mixtures with and without supplementation of a S9-mix. Validity criteria (acceptable spontaneous and positive control-induced mutation counts) were fulfilled by 92–100%, depending on the test conditions. A two-step method for statistical evaluation of the test results is proposed and assessed in terms of specificity and sensitivity. The data were first subjected to powerful analysis of variance (ANOVA) after an arcsine-square-root transformation to detect significant differences between the test samples and the negative control (NC). A threshold (TH) value based on a pooled NC was then calculated to exclude false positive test results. Statistically, positive effects observed by the William's test were considered negative, if the mean of all replicates of a sample did not exceed the calculated TH. By making use of this approach, the overall test sensitivity was 100%, and the test specificity ranged from 80 to 100%. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (465K)