Risk of exposure to various classes of polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs) congeners: mutagenic and genotoxic effects

• Grant number: 12/23772-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2013
• End date: March 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy - Toxicological Analysis
• Principal Investigator: Danielle Palma de Oliveira
• Grantee: Danielle Palma de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Daniel Junqueira Dorta

Abstract

The flame retardants are a group of substances with different chemical structures, widely used in various consumer goods. This intense use is explained by the fact that products made from wood, paper, plastic, among others, can burn very easily and quickly, reducing the chances of escape in case of fire. Thus, flame retardants are employed to delay or prevent the ignition and combustion of these materials, with the unquestionable advantage of reducing the number of cases of death or serious burns during fires. However, some studies have demonstrated that various toxic effects resulting from exposure of humans and biota to these compounds. Among the flame retardants, brominated compounds, especially polibromads diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are the most widely used due to their good performance and low cost. Our group has been working with different congeners of PBDEs and we observed that these compounds are able to induce the accumulation of ROS in HepG2 cells. Whereas the formation of reactive species is a major mechanism of DNA damage, this project proposes the assessment of genotoxic and mutagenic activity of 6 PBDE congeners (BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153, BDE-154 and BDE-209) using the Salmonella mutagenicity test, and the micronucleus and comet assay in HepG2 cells. HepG2 cells, derived from a human hepatoblastom, were chosen because several studies identified the liver as the primary target of the toxic effects resulting from exposure to PBDEs. Additionally, as we will evaluated congeners with different chemical structures, this work also aims to evaluate the influence of bromination pattern in the observed effect. Our results could be used as important information for assessing the risk of exposure to products containing PBDEs and may also assist in establishing laws that control the use and release of these compounds. (AU)