Abstract
This is the first study to monitor anesthetic pollution in veterinary operating rooms (VOR) and assess the toxicological impact of the inhalational anesthetic isoflurane (exposed group) compared to matched volunteers (control group). DNA damage was evaluated in mononuclear cells by the comet assay while genetic instability (including micronucleus-MN), cell proliferation, and cell death markers were assessed by the buccal MN cytome assay. Residual isoflurane concentrations in VOR (air monitoring) lacking the scavenging system were assessed by infrared spectrophotometry; the mean concentration was 11 ppm (≥ 5 times above the international recommended threshold). Comet assay results did not differ between groups; however, both younger exposed professionals (with higher week workload) compared to older individuals exposed for the same period and older professionals with greater time of exposure (years) compared to those in the same age group with fewer years of exposure presented higher DNA damage. The exposed group had a higher frequency of MN, nuclear buds, binucleated cells, karyorrhexis, and karyolysis and a lower frequency of basal cells than the control group. Exposed women were more vulnerable to genetic instability and proliferative index; exposed men presented more cytotoxicity. High WAG exposure has deleterious effects on exposed professionals.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to all the participants of the study; to Juliana Lara, Paula Dória, and Vickeline Androcioli (UNIPEX-UNESP, Brazil) for their technical assistance; and to Prof. Francisco J. Teixeira-Neto and Dr. Natache A. Garofalo (FVMZ-UNESP, Brazil) for their important help.
Funding
This study was supported by grant number #2018/20900–0, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). D.B.S.F. received a scholarship from the Coordination of Improvement for Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and from FAPESP (grant number #2020/08455–0), and I.H.N. received a scholarship from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) — grant numbers #143974/2019–0 and #120496/2020–8. M.G.B. is a recipient of a fellowship from the CNPq (#305231/2021–9).
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Drielle Figueiredo: conceptualization, investigation, project administration, visualization, writing — original draft. Aline Aun: investigation, validation. Mariane Silva: investigation. Kátina Souza: investigation, validation. Igor Nishimoto: validation, visualization. Lídia de Carvalho: formal analysis. Leandro Braz: conceptualization, validation, writing — review and editing, supervision. Mariana Braz: conceptualization, validation, resources, writing — original draft, writing — review and editing, visualization, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.
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Figueiredo, D.B.S., Aun, A.G., Souza, K.M. et al. High anesthetic (isoflurane) indoor pollution is associated with genetic instability, cytotoxicity, and proliferative alterations in professionals working in a veterinary hospital. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 71774–71784 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20444-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20444-2