Pollutant effects on genotoxic parameters and tumor-associated protein levels in adults:
a cross sectional study.
Environmental Health 2008, 7:26
Levels of internal exposure, and residence near waste incinerators, in cities, or close to important industries, but not in areas with intensive use of pesticides, showed positive correlations with biomarkers associated with carcinogenesis and thus probably contribute to risk of cancer.
Conclusions
Although we found the levels of genotoxic parameters and of tumor-associated proteins quite homogenous in Flanders, residence near waste incinerators, in cities, or close to important industries showed a positive correlation with biomarkers associated with carcinogenesis.
Thus, residence in those areas probably contributed to the risk of cancer.
Whereas for the ‘fruit area’ with intensive use of pesticides favourable results were obtained, in some other rural areas the levels of these biomarkers were not lower than in the rest of Flanders.
In addition, we observed more intense biological effects occurring in persons residing near point sources of pollution. This suggests that the relatively high values of internal exposure measured in most people in Flanders, independent of their area of residence, are in part due to emissions of point sources, the effects of which, in terms of both internal exposure and biological effects, can only be detected in people residing at short distance. Levels of internal exposure occurring in the general population in Flanders showed positive correlations with biomarkers associated with carcinogenesis and probably contributed to the risk of cancer.
