Environmental threats to the Three Gorges Reservoir Region: Are mutagenic and genotoxic substances important?

The Three Gorges Dam project (TGDP), with a total static investment of 95.46 billion RMB (US$10.97 billion) based on the 1993 price level, commenced in 1994 and was completed in 2012. The creation of the Three Gorges Reservoir following the completion of the TGDP had brought about significant changes to the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (TGRR), stretching from the town of Sandouping in Hubei Province to the Jiangjin District of Chongqing Municipality. The TGDP has led to progressive urbanization and industrialization of the TGRR, accompanied by increased shipping activities, greater hydropower generation capacity, enhanced flood control and improved water supply/irrigation systems. Overall, the TGDP has brought economic benefits to China, especially in cities in and around the TGRR (Zhang, 2014). Notwithstanding, the TGDP has also caused serious environmental concerns, such as habitat destruction, siltation/sedimentation, as well as pollution and public health issues (e.g., Xiao et al., 2013). In a paper entitled “Yangtze Three Gorges Reservoir, China: A holistic assessment of organic pollution, mutagenic effects of sediments and genotoxic impacts on fish” by Prof. Hollert and coworkers (Floehr et al., 2015), the authors examined one particular aspect of the environmental consequences of the TGDP namely pollution impacts, especially those associated with persistent organic