Genotoxic Pollutants

A special issue of Pollutants (ISSN 2673-4672).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 1266

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Suldisabled, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Interests: genetics; environment; pollution; genotoxicity; genetic toxicology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Genotoxic pollutants are environmental agents released mainly by human activities, with the ability to cause damage to genetic material. Occasionally, volcanic eruptions and other natural events also release significant amounts of genotoxic pollutants into the environment. Such pollutants, whether of natural or anthropogenic origin, can cause DNA damage, micronuclei and chromosomal aberrations, histone modifications and mutations, or alter gene expression and DNA methylation. These genotoxic outcomes are involved in the development of cell anomalies and diseases in humans and other animal species, such as cancer and reproduction problems. Potentially toxic elements (e.g., lead, zinc, mercury, cadmium, copper, chromium), pharmaceutical compounds, nanoparticles, plastic-derived chemicals and microplastics, airborne particles and even pathogens can act as genotoxic pollutants. Mining activities, domestic and industrial sewage disposal into water bodies, vehicle pollution, inadequate management of electronic waste and fires are just some of the issues linked to genotoxic pollution. Climate change, increasing social inequalities worldwide and the growing demand for metals used in the development of batteries and electronic devices indicate that genotoxic pollution is a problem of growing concern. For this reason, genotoxic pollutants must be characterized in detail and their sources detected so that strategies to control the environmental contamination by these pollutants can be applied, protecting biodiversity and human health. This Special Issue aims to bring together many contributions (original articles, reviews and opinions, among other article types), covering the following topics and areas:

  • Effects of genotoxic pollutants on the health of humans, animals and ecosystems;
  • Molecular action mechanisms of genotoxic pollutants;
  • Genetic and immune factors that affect the metabolism of genotoxic pollutants;
  • Emerging genotoxic pollutants;
  • Natural and anthropogenic drivers of genotoxic pollution;
  • Use of the comet assay, the micronucleus test and other classical methods to study genotoxic pollutants;
  • New in vivo and in vitro methods to study genotoxic pollutants;
  • Alternative methods to using animals in the study of genotoxic pollutants (e.g., plant assays);
  • Toxicogenomics of pollutants;
  • Approaches to preventing and mitigating the harmful impact of genotoxic pollutants on the environment;
  • Policies and regulatory aspects for the control of genotoxic pollution.

Dr. Joel Henrique Ellwanger
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • chromosome damage
  • DNA damage
  • environment
  • genetic toxicology
  • genomic instability
  • genotoxicity
  • genotoxins
  • pollution
  • micronucleus
  • mutation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 5378 KiB  
Article
Toxicogenomics of Arsenic, Lead and Mercury: The Toxic Triad
by Joel Henrique Ellwanger, Marina Ziliotto and José Artur Bogo Chies
Pollutants 2025, 5(3), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/pollutants5030018 - 30 Jun 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 365
Abstract
The metalloid arsenic (As) and the metals lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg), which together we call the “Toxic Triad”, are among the pollutants of greatest global concern, harming the health of millions of people and contributing to biodiversity loss. The widespread distribution of [...] Read more.
The metalloid arsenic (As) and the metals lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg), which together we call the “Toxic Triad”, are among the pollutants of greatest global concern, harming the health of millions of people and contributing to biodiversity loss. The widespread distribution of As, Pb and Hg facilitates the exposure of humans and other species to these elements simultaneously, potentially amplifying their individual toxic effects. While As, Pb and Hg are well established as toxic elements, the mechanisms by which they interact with genetic material and impact the health of various species remain incompletely understood. This is particularly true regarding the combined effects of these three elements. In this context, the objective of this work was to perform a toxicogenomic analysis of As, Pb and Hg to highlight multiple aspects of element-gene interactions, in addition to revisiting information on the genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of the Toxic Triad. By using The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database, it was possible to identify that As interacts with 7666 genes across various species, while Pb influences 3525 genes, and Hg affects 692 genes. Removing duplicate gene names, the three elements interact with 9763 genes across multiple species. Considering the top-20 As/Pb/Hg-interacting genes, catalase (CAT), NFE2 like bZIP transcription factor 2 (NFE2L2), caspase 3 (CASP3), heme oxygenase (HMOX1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1) and interleukin 6 (IL6) were the most frequently observed. In total, 172 genes have the potential to interact with the three elements. Gene ontology analysis based on those genes evidenced that the Toxic Triad affects several cellular compartments and molecular functions, highlighting its effect on stimulation of toxic stress mechanisms. These 172 genes are also associated with various diseases, especially those of the urogenital tract, as well as being related to biological pathways involved in infectious diseases caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites. Arsenic was the element with the best-substantiated genotoxic and carcinogenic activity. This article details, through a toxicogenomic approach, the genetic bases that underlie the toxic effects of As, Pb and Hg. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genotoxic Pollutants)
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