title: Survey of air pollution in Cotonou, Benin--air monitoring and biomarkers.
abstract: Exposure to genotoxic compounds present in ambient air has been studied in Cotonou, Benin, a city where two-stroke motorbikes are the major form of transportation and gasoline quality is poor. Personal monitoring and biomarkers were used to assess the exposure. Non-smoking taxi-moto drivers (city) and village residents were the study subjects. Benzene exposure was significantly higher in the city, as compared to the village (76.0+/-26.8 microg/m(3) versus 3.4+/-3.0, p=0.0004). Urinary excretion of benzene and S-phenylmercapturic acid (S-PMA) were also highest in subjects living in the city, whereas 1-hydroxypyrene was not different. The level of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), associated with particles, ranged from 76.21 to 103.23 in Cotonou versus 1.55 ng/m(3) for the village. Determination of DNA damage in lymphocytes showed that subjects from the city had elevated number of lesions compared to subjects in the village in terms of bulky DNA adducts, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and 5-methylcytosine, whereas DNA fragmentations analysed by alkaline gel electrophoresis was not different between the subjects. In conclusion, this study shows that air pollution is pronounced in Cotonou, Bénin and is associated with elevated levels of DNA damage in residents of the city compared to people living in a non-polluted rural village.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biochimie et de Biologie Moleculaire, Faculte des Sciences et Techniques, Universite d'Abomey-Calavi, Republique du Benin. 04 BP 0320 Cotonou, Republique du Benin.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ayi Fanou
authors.forename: Théophile A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mobio
authors.forename: Edmond E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Creppy
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fayomi
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fustoni
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.forename: Soterios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kyrtopoulos
authors.forename: Panos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Georgiades
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loft
authors.forename: Ambaliou
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanni
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Skov
authors.forename: Steinar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ovrebø
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Autrup
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001541:Benin; D001554:Benzene / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D018736:DNA Adducts; D004249:DNA Damage; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes; D008297:Male; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population; D001335:Vehicle Emissions
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D015415:Biomarkers; D018736:DNA Adducts; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D001554:Benzene