Efeito toxicológico de disruptores endócrinos: um enfoque da relação saúde e ambiente

Abstract

Emerging pollutants are a class of substances formed by natural or anthropogenic action. Pharmaceutical compounds are among this group that draws the most attention, both for the continuous amount introduced into the environment and for the potential to cause adverse effects. One of the reasons that contribute to the increasing environmental degradation is the indiscriminate use of medicines and their inappropriate disposal, which in turn persist in the effluents even after the water treatments, returning to the aquatic matrices. The female population has a remarkable relation with pharmaceuticals due to physiological, cultural, and social factors. It is well known that pharmaceuticals residues of hormonal origin cause concern due to their ability to interfere with the endocrine system of exposed organisms. However, few studies have investigated the relation of damage to the genetic material of organisms exposed to such contaminants. Therefore, the general objective of this dissertation is to evaluate the cytotoxic and mutagenic potential of Estrone and Levonorgestrel through in vitro assays on the HepG2 cell line associated with the assessment of environmental risk perception on drug use and disposal. To evaluate the cytotoxic potential, the cell viability assay was used through the [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium] bromide – (MTT) reduction test; for the evaluation of mutagenicity, the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN) and; the perception of environmental risk was investigated through the application of a questionnaire with undergraduate students from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The results show that even understanding the environmental and health consequences of pharmacocontamination, there was insufficiency in the practical implementation of knowledge through pro-environmental attitudes. Moreover, training biases were evidenced according to the student's area of knowledge. The results show that exogenous hormonal compounds present in different environmental compartments as well, mainly aquatic, have the potential to cause changes in the genetic material of human liver cells. Thus, this work leads to the conclusion that all these factors associated with the socio-environmental problem presented, indiscriminate use, and incorrect disposal may be contributing to contamination and consequently, to the probable deregulation of the good genetic functioning of the exposed organisms.