Efecto genotóxico de hidrocarburos aromáticos policíclicos asociados a material particulado.

TAMES, FLORENCIA; CARRERAS, H

Cordoba

Jornada; XIV Jornada de Investigación Científica, JIC 2013. FCM; 2013

Fcaultad de Ciencias medicas UNC

According to the World Health Organization polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the most toxic pollutants in urban environments due to theirs mutagenic activity, even in small concentrations. One of the most useful methodologies for the study of this kind of genotoxic compounds is the comet assay, due to its sensitivity to detect DNA breaks in eukaryotic cells and the relatively fast processing of results. The present study aims to identify and quantify the PAHs associated to particulate suspension matter  (PM) as well as to assess their genotoxic effects. Samples were collected in four areas of Córdoba province, during two different seasons. PM samples were collected with a medium volume sampler and HAPs were extracted by ultrasound sonication of filters with dichloromethane followed by concentration with a rotary evaporator. Extracts were further analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The same organic extracts were used to expose human lymphocytes according to the comet assay methodology described by Singh et al (1988), slightly modified. In addition, positive and negative exposition controls were analyzed. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance. The sampling site with higher concentration of PAHs was Córdoba downtown and the most abundant compounds were fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, naphthalene and fluorene. In agreement with these results, the lymphocytes exposed in these extracts showed higher DNA damage, measured as tail moment and tail DNA percentage. PAHs values associated with particulate material were high enough to cause DNA damage in lymphocytes, which suggests a potential human exposure risk.