Evaluation of the frequency of micronucleus in epithefial cells of children exposed to arsenic and heavy metals pollution in a mining area of Mexico

Mining industry is one of the most important economical activities of Latin America, where As, Pb and Cd are commonly associated with the extraction of precious and base metals. Mining activities become a source of contamination if control measures are not adapted to avoid the pollution of soils by these potentially toxic elements （PTE） for the human, because they have the capacity to produce damage to the DNA generating a genomic instability in the individual and this directly can lead to the development of chronic diseases like cancer. The considered population of greater risk is the infantile since they have an exceptional vulnerability to the acute or chronic effects of environmental toxics and in addition have a higher susceptibility to these PTE compared with the adults. For that reason, it is assumed that the infantile population exposed to soil contaminated by the mixture of As, Pb and Cd, has damage in the DNA of its cells and this provokes a greater susceptibility to develop neoplasics processes or other environmental diseases. Individual sensitivity to the cytogenetics effects produced by the polluting agents or their metabolites is based on the differences in the magnitude of the repair systems induction, reason why it is necessary to determine the genotoxicity in exposed children by means of the evaluation of a damage biomarker that allows to establish a biological meaning to predict the adverse effects in health.

Evaluation of the frequency of micronucleus in epithefial cells of children exposed to arsenic and heavy metals pollution in a mining area of Mexico