Title: Biomonitoring of indoor air genotoxic properties in ten schools using Scindapsus aureus

Authors: Marie-Amelie Rzepka, Dinh Trinh Tran, Laurent Y. Alleman, Isabelle Coquelle, Damien Cuny

Addresses: Association pour la Prevention de la Pollution Atmospherique, Loos, France. ' Departement Chimie et Environnement, Universite Lille Nord de France, Ecole des Mines de Douai, France. ' Departement Chimie et Environnement, Universite Lille Nord de France, Ecole des Mines de Douai, France. ' ATMO Nord-Pas de Calais, Euralille, France. ' E.A. 2690, Toxiques et Cancerogenes Professionnels et Environnementaux, Universite Lille Nord de France, Faculte des Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques, Lille, France

Abstract: School is the most important indoor environment for children besides their home. Indoor air quality in school is a critical parameter that needs to be considered for children|s health. Atmospheric measurements provide concentrations of pollutants which are used for risk assessments. However, those data are limited to study complex interactions between pollutants, and the genotoxic potential of air pollution is still often misunderstood. The aim of this study was to assess the genotoxic potential of indoor air pollutants in ten schools in France. For this purpose, we have used the comet assay in Scindapsus aureus (pothos) which is a very common indoor plant. For all classrooms, data obtained with exposed plants were significantly higher than those obtained with control. This study shows that plants can be used in indoor environments as well as outdoor for air monitoring, and can participate in health risk assessment.

Keywords: indoor air pollution; aldehydes; organic compounds; childhood; schools; exposure; genotoxicity; comet assay; biomonitoring; Scindapsus aureus; indoor air quality; children; child health; France; indoor plants; health risk assessment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJENVH.2010.033710

International Journal of Environment and Health, 2010 Vol.4 No.2/3, pp.224 - 234

Published online: 29 Jun 2010 *

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