Chemical characterization of simulated landfill soil leachates from Nigeria and India and their cytotoxicity and DNA damage inductions on three human cell lines Chibuisi G. Alimba a, b , Deepa Gandhi b , Saravanadevi Sivanesan b , Mayuresh D. Bhanarkar b , Pravin K. Naoghare b , Adekunle A. Bakare a , Kannan Krishnamurthi b, * a Cell Biology and Genetics Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria b Environmental Health Division, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, 440020, India highlights graphical abstract  Chemical analysis of simulated soil leachates from dumpsites revealed toxic metals and organic compounds (PAHs and PCBs).  The simulated leachates induced morphological alterations in lym- phoma, hepatocarcinoma and osteosarcoma.  The leachates decreased cell viability of the exposed cell lines as assessed using MTT assay.  The leachates increased DNA damage in the exposed cell lines. article info Article history: Received 18 February 2016 Received in revised form 19 July 2016 Accepted 20 August 2016 Handling Editor: Frederic Leusch Keywords: Comet assay Cytotoxicity DNA damage Human cell lines Landfill soil leachates MTT assay abstract Landfill soils are sources of emerging carcinogens, teratogens and mutagens in the environment. There is inadequate information on its possible health risk and cytogenotoxicity. This study evaluated chemical characterization of four simulated landfill leachates with their cytotoxicity and DNA damage in human cells. Hepatocarcinoma (HepG2), lymphoma (Jurkat) and osteosarcoma (HOS) cells, incubated with 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of Aba Eku (AEL), Olusosun (OSL), Awotan (AWL) and Nagpur (NPL) simulated leachates for 24 h, were assessed for cell viability using MTT assay and morphological alterations. DNA damage was also assessed after 24 h treatment of cells with sub-lethal concentrations of the leachates using comet assay. Metals and organic compounds in the soil leachates were determined using induc- tively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) respectively. The leachates induced significant cytotoxicity in the treated cells with evidence of apoptosis; shrunken morphologies, detachment from the substratum and cytoplasmic vacuolations. Similarly, there was significant DNA damage induced in the treated cells, with increased Olive tail moment, tail length and % tail DNA. Jurkat was the most sensitive (Jurkat > HepG2 > HOS) to the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of the leachates. All the analyzed metals except Cd, Fe, Zn and Mn were found at levels lower than standard allowable limits. 32, 17, 23 and 23 different PAHs and PCBs were * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: k_krishnamurthi@neeri.res.in, krishnamurthikannan@gmail. com (K. Krishnamurthi). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Chemosphere journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.08.093 0045-6535/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Chemosphere 164 (2016) 469e479