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- Occupational genotoxicity risk evaluation through the comet assay and the micronucleus test
- M.G. Martino-Roth1,2, J. Viégas2 and D.M. Roth3
- 1Escola de Medicina, Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brasil
- 2Departamento de Zoologia e Genética, Instituto de Biologia,
- Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brasil
- 3Mestranda do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia,
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil
- Corresponding author: M.G. Martino-Roth
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Genet. Mol. Res. 2 (4): 410-417 (2003)
- Received August 3, 2003
- Accepted December 8, 2003
- Published December 30, 2003
ABSTRACT. The micronucleus (MN) test and the alkaline single cell gel or comet assay were applied to exfoliated cells of the buccal mucous in order to evaluate the genotoxic risk associated with occupational exposure of 10 storage battery renovation workers, and 10 car painters, with age matched controls, in Pelotas, RS, in southern Brazil. In the MN test, 2000 exfoliated buccal cells were analyzed for each individual, while 100 cells were examined in the comet assay. In the comet test, both comet tail length and a damage index were calculated. Highly significant effects of occupational exposure were found with both the MN test and the comet assay (P < 0.001). The comet assay was found to be rapid, of simple visualization, and it is a sensitive technique for measuring and analyzing DNA damage in human cells.
Key words: Micronucleus test, Occupational exposure, Comet assay
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