Is micronucleus assay in oral cells suitable biomarker for evaluating the risk of carcinogenesis in gas station attendants? A systematic review

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to evaluate all studies which used the micronucleus assay using oral cells in the attempt to understand whether such technique is efficient in evaluating genotoxicity in gas station attendants. Full manuscripts from 16 studies were carefully selected by the authors. Our results demonstrate that continuous exposure to derivatives of petroleum may lead to genotoxic effects since all studies demonstrated positive findings (16 out of 16) and 11 of them had a strong or moderate final rating. In summary, our results reveal that gas station attendants are occupationally exposed to genotoxic agents and that the micronucleus assay in oral mucosa is indeed an effective method to evaluate genotoxicity in this specific case. Such findings are very important for protecting these professionals who are continuously exposed to chemicals for long periods.

KEYWORDS:

• DNA damage
• gasoline
• micronucleus tests
• mouth mucosa
• petroleum

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Study design: TGP, TAD, and DAR. Data search: TGP, TAD, and DAR. Data analysis: TGP, TAD, and DAR. Writing the paper: all authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the research grants received from CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Grant Number #001) for productivity fellowship.