Air pollutants affect their quality, making, inappropriate, harmful and damaging to health in general. The air quality can be measured by the use of higher plants as bioindicators in environmental biomonitoring. In this study, we evaluated the increased frequency of micronuclei (MN) in Tradescantia pallida exposed to potentially toxic environments. The vegetables were implanted in five points (4 test and 1 control) for 15, 30 and 60 days. After this period of exposure, the young inflorescences were analyzed and the observation frequency of MN using the technique of Tradescantia-micronucleus (TRAD-MCN). The results showed an increased frequency of MN in pollen grains of T. pallida in environment with severe vehicular exhaust and manipulation of benzene derivatives, indicating that the compounds present in the atmosphere of these environments have genotoxic potential.