Associating Air Pollution with Cytokinesis-Block Micronucleus Assay Parameters in Lymphocytes of the General Population in Zagreb (Croatia)

Abstract

Air pollution is recognized as one of the most serious public health issues worldwide and was declared to be a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths. At the same time, the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay serves as a cancer predictive method that is extensively used in human biomonitoring for populations exposed to environmental contamination. The objective of this cross-sectional study is two-fold: to evaluate genomic instability in a sample (N = 130) of healthy, general population residents from Zagreb (Croatia), chronically exposed to different levels of air pollution, and to relate them to air pollution levels in the period from 2011 to 2015. Measured frequencies of CBMN assay parameters were in agreement with the baseline data for the general population of Croatia. Air pollution exposure was based on four factors obtained from a factor analysis of all exposure data obtained for the examined period. Based on the statistical results, we did not observe a significant positive association between any of the CBMN assay parameters tested and measured air pollution parameters for designated time windows, except for benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P) that showed significant negative association. Our results show that measured air pollution parameters are largely below the regulatory limits, except for B[a]P, and as such, they do not affect CBMN assay parameters’ frequency. Nevertheless, as air pollution is identified as a major health threat, it is necessary to conduct prospective studies investigating the effect of air pollution on genome integrity and human health.

Assessment of the Genotoxic and Cytotoxic Effects of Turpentine in Painters

“…Research has shown that daily use and occupational exposure to various substances, such as gasoline, heavy metals, and coal dust [ 32 , 33 ] or anesthetics in medicine [ 34 , 35 ], should be carried out with caution and that there is a need to increase awareness of the importance of safety in the workplace. The harmful effects of a chemical need not be immediately apparent but can still have long-term and significant effects on human health, taking into account not only occupational exposure but also everyday exposure to genotoxic substances in our environment, such as the effects of secondhand smoke and smog [ 36 , 37 ] or the use of pharmaceuticals [ 38 , 39 , 40 ]. For this reason, it was tested whether the habits of smoking and alcohol consumption have an effect on the number of micronuclei, but no association was found.…”

Air Pollution and Primary DNA Damage among Zagreb (Croatia) Residents: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…It is the only station with continuous parallel measurements of PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and PM 1.0 particle fractions, as well as detailed PM 10 chemical content. Considering PM trends at other air-quality-monitoring stations in Zagreb and the absence of similar datasets at other locations, the existing data were considered sufficiently representative for the participants included in the study by Gajski et al [ 41 ].…”

“…QA/QC was ensured with the inner standard, an external sucrose aqueous solution, a check filter, and a cross-method procedure. All other details have been described earlier [ 41 , 43 ].…”

“…Anions were separated on Dionex AS14: 4 mm Analytical Column using AG14: 4 mm Guard Column. The eluent was 3.5 mM Na 2 CO 3 /1 mM NaHCO 3 solution [ 41 ].…”

“…Many reports, including those from the European Environment Agency’s (EEA), suggest that air pollution components are associated to increased risks for certain cancer sites, resulting in elevated premature deaths and substantial economic costs [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Previous attempts to associate the air quality parameters with cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay descriptors, another cancer-predictive method, yielded no apparent link for the Zagreb region during the designated period [ 41 ]. In this study, we aim to associate air quality data with alkaline comet assay descriptors using historical data from 2011 to 2015.…”