Assessment of genotoxic damage in adolescents

In the state of Tlaxcala there are several schools located in the vicinity of different industrial corridors, which means that the student population is potentially exposed to the emission of environmental pollutants from different industries. Some of these substances can produce acute or chronic effects on human health and can even cause damage to genetic material. In the present work, a biomonitoring study was carried out from the genotoxic point of view using the micronucleus (MN) and binucleated cells (BN) assay in epithelial cells of the oral mucosa, to determine the damage induced in 99 adolescents of both sexes between 12 and 15 years of age (experimental group), potentially exposed to pollutants emitted by the Panzacola Industrial Corridor and in 30 adolescents of the same age range (control group), apparently not exposed to obvious sources of contamination. The results found with both biomarkers were contradictory.