Evaluation of the effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers congeners, BDE-100 and BDE-153, on the HepG2 cell line and human lymphocytes: cytotoxic, genotoxic and mutagenic effects.

Abstract

The flame retardants are brominated materials used in large scale in various consumer goods of modern life to increase its fire resistance and / or higher temperatures, eg in case of fire by reducing the spread of fire and interfering with combustion material, thus increasing the chances of escape and reducing the severity of burns. For this purpose, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are the most used class in view of its efficiency in controlling the spread of flame and low cost. These compounds fall within the compounds considered as emerging contaminants and already are among the compounds, called Priority Organic Pollutants (POPs) because they are considered persistent, bioaccumulative, are transported over long distances and submit toxicity. There are reports in the literature about the ability of these compounds, in general, in acting as endocrine disruptors, however the mechanisms of toxic action has not been well established. Thus, this project aims to provide data to the scientific community about the harmful effects of PBDEs using tests genotoxic and mutagenic in Human Hepatoblastoma (HepG2) and human lymphocytes cell lines in order to elucidate the mechanism of hepatotoxicity induced PBDE-100 and -153 examples of lower molecular weight counterparts (hexa and penta-BDE), which are considered the most important from the standpoint of toxicological concern.