Abstract
Socioeconomic and demographic factors, lifestyle and cultural characteristics may play an important role in the development of genetic damage. This damage represents a potential health risk to an individual and increases the risk of developing negative outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of a set of factors and genetic damage by gathering data from previously studied populations in southern Brazil. This study analyzed data related to genetic damage and socioeconomic, demographic, and lifestyle variables of 514 individuals aged 18 to 64 years, residing in 8 cities located in the extreme south of the Brazil. A total of twelve factors were considered in the analysis, and of these seven had some association with the frequency of micronucleus or some parameter of the comet assay. Interestingly, age was a factor weakly associated with genetic damage, while skin color, occupational exposure, drug use, exposure to radiation, and the cultural habit of consuming chimarrão were shown to be associated with genetic damage when analyzed using multivariate regression. Therefore, we suggest that yerba mate consumption is a confounding factor and should be considered in cytogenetic studies in the southern region of South America. These results reinforce the need for human biomonitoring studies to include consideration of a broad range of population and cultural characteristics when seeking to identify relevant associations.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES, for the Doctoral (RAT, CLFF, and LES) scholarships.
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This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001 and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Grant 310856/2020–5.
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RAT, CLFF, and LES were responsible for conducting the data analysis. LMV and MS were co-responsible for the choice of the analyzed variables. FMRSJ supervised the study. All authors contributed to the elaboration of the text and approved the final version.
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Tavella, R.A., Fernandes, C.L.F., Schimith, L.E. et al. Factors associated with genetic damage — an analysis integrating human populations from Southern Brazil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 74335–74345 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21089-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21089-x