期刊名称：Environmental Health - a Global Access Science Source
印刷版ISSN：1476-069X
电子版ISSN：1476-069X
出版年度：2013
卷号：12
期号：1
页码：87
DOI：10.1186/1476-069X-12-87
语种：English
出版社：BioMed Central
摘要：To determine the possible genotoxic effect of exposure to the smoke generated by biomass burning on workers involved in manual sugar cane harvesting. The frequency of micronuclei in exfoliated buccal cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes was determined in sugarcane workers in the Barretos region of Brazil, during the harvest season and compared to a control population, comprised of administrative employees of Barretos Cancer Hospital. The frequency of micronuclei was higher in the sugar cane workers. The mean frequency in blood lymphocytes (micronuclei/1000 cells) in the test group was 8.22 versus 1.27 in the control group. The same effect was observed when exfoliated buccal cells were considered (22.75 and 9.70 micronuclei/1000 cells for sugar cane workers and controls, respectively). Exposure to emissions produced by the burning of sugar cane during harvesting induces genomic instability in workers, indicating the necessity of adopting more advanced techniques of harvesting sugar cane to preserve human health.
