Coal remains an important source of energy, although the fuel is a greater environmental pollutant. Coal
is a mixture of several chemicals, especially inorganic elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAH). Many of these compounds have mutagenic and carcinogenic effects on organisms exposed to this
mineral. In the town of Charqueadas (Brazil), the tailings from mining were used for landfill in the lower
areas of the town, and the consequence is the formation of large deposits of this material. The purpose of
this study was to evaluate the genotoxic potential of soil samples contaminated by coal waste in different
sites at Charqueadas, using the land snail Helix aspersa as a biomonitor organism. Thirty terrestrial snails
were exposed to different treatments: 20 were exposed to the soil from two different sites in
Charqueadas (site 1 and 2; 10 in each group) and 10 non-exposed (control group). Hemolymph cells were
collected after 24 h, 5 days and 7 days of exposure and comet assay, micronucleus test, oxidative stress
tests were performed. Furthermore, this study quantified the inorganic elements present in soil samples
by the PIXE technique and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) by HPLC. This evaluation shows that,
in general, soils from sites in Charqueadas, demonstrated a genotoxic effect associated with increased
oxidative stress, inorganic and PAH content. These results demonstrate that the coal pyrite tailings from
Charqueadas are potentially genotoxic and that H. aspersa is confirmed to be a sensitive instrument for
risk assessment of environmental polluti