title: Biomonitoring of genotoxic effects and elemental accumulation derived from air pollution in community urban gardens.
abstract: Urban gardening is a growing global phenomenon with a positive impact on society. Despite several associated benefits, growing vegetables in urban gardens that are localized in highly polluted areas poses questions about the safety of the produced food. Therefore, the identification of risk factors that result in possible deleterious effects to human health is important for realizing all of the benefits to society. We evaluated the use of two biomonitoring methods in ten urban gardens of Sao Paulo city and one control site: the micronuclei frequencies for early tetrads of Tradescantia pallida (Rose) Hunt. cv. "Purpurea" Boom (hereafter, Trad-MCN) as a short-term indicator of genotoxic response and tree barks to quantify the accumulation of traffic-related chemical elements as a long-term biomarker of air pollution in urban gardens. Mature plants of Tradescantia pallida were exposed in each garden, and their inflorescences were sampled over three months. A random set of 300 early tetrads in 13 to 21 slides per garden were evaluated for micronuclei frequencies. Elemental concentrations in 428 tree barks samples from 107 different trees in the areas surrounding urban gardens were quantified using an energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The frequency of Trad-MCN has a significant correlation with traffic variables and chemical elements related to road dust and tailpipe emissions deposited in tree barks. Negative associations between Trad-MCN and both the distance through traffic and the presence of vertical obstacles were observed in the community gardens. The Mn/Zn concentrations in tree barks were associated with increased Trad-MCN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Study Group on Urban Agriculture, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Sao Paulo (IEA), Brazil. Electronic address: luisfamato@usp.br.
authors.forename: Luís Fernando
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Amato-Lourenco
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Debora Jã A
authors.initials: DJA
authors.lastname: Lobo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eliane T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tiana Carla Lopes
authors.initials: TCL
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Regiani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carvalho-Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Nuclear and Energy Research Institute, IPEN-CNEN/SP - Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mitiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saiki
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Study Group on Urban Agriculture, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Sao Paulo (IEA), Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo Hilário Nascimento
authors.initials: PHN
authors.lastname: Saldiva
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Study Group on Urban Agriculture, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Sao Paulo (IEA), Brazil.
authors.forename: Thais
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mauad
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000397:Air Pollution; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D000072506:Gardens; D006801:Humans; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D034823:Tradescantia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants
keywords: Biomonitoring; Chemical elements; Community gardens; Genotoxicity; Micronucleus; Tree barks; Urban environmental