DAÑO GENÉTICO Y CITOTÓXICO PROVOCADO POR PLAGUICIDAS EN JORNALEROS QUE LABORAN EN INVERNADEROS EN ATLIXCO, PUEBLA, MÉXICO

Abstract

The monitoring of genotoxic damage in laborers of greenhouses allows the identification of deterioration of DNA originated by working conditions. It has been suggested the use of different biological markers to evaluate the risk of occupational exposure and DNA damage, one of them is the micronucleus (MN) assay. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency of MN and nuclear abnormalities in the buccal mucosa epithelium of 40 workers of high and low technology greenhouses, who are exposed to diferent kinds of pesticides, and of 40 people not exposed to these compounds, both populations from Atlixco City, in Puebla, Mexico. The samples taken were air-dried and fixed with methanol-acetic acid. Later they were stained by the Feulgen reaction. Nuclear abnormalities were assessed by counting one thousand differentiated basal cells per participant. Comparison of biomarkers frequencies indicates higher values of nuclear abnormalities statistically significant in laborers of greenhouses, whose frequency index ratios were: 63.0 binucleate cells, 14.2 cells with condensed chromatin, 8.0 cariolitic cells, 3.8 cells pycnotic, 2.4 cells with nuclear outbreaks, and 2.3 cells with micronuclei. The highest frequency of nuclear abnormalities was determined in laborers working in low-tech greenhouses compared to high-tech greenhouses. The male population of low-tech greenhouses showed higher frequencies of pycnotic cells, micronuclei, and cells with nuclear outbreaks.