Cellular Changes in Buccal Mucosa from Farmers Exposed to Glyphosate / Alterações Celulares na Mucosa Bucal de Agricultores Expostos ao Glifosato

Abstract

This study evaluated the sociodemographic characteristics and behavior of the oral mucosa epithelium exposured to the herbicide glyphosate of family farmers in Cerro Largo, RS, Brazil. 120 individuals were selected for social data collection through interviews. According to the results, most of the interviewees uses glyphosate between 5-10 years, being exposed between 30 minutes to one hour each application and applying the herbicide 1-2 times a year. After the interview, we selected the subjects to the Micronucleus (MN) test. For this test, oral smears were performed in three distinct regions (cheek, mouth floor and tongue edges) of 10 test subjects (exposed to glyphosate, non-smoker and non-alcoholic) and 10 control subjects. Results showed that glyphosate exposure increased the frequency of MN in the test group (p = 0.0002), as well as the frequency of other cellular alterations, such as brokenegg (p = 0.001), binucleation (p = 0.0001) and karyolysis (p = 0.0004). Based on these findings, the extent use of glyphosate may be causing damage to the oral mucosa epithelium and this might respond adaptively through cellular modifications.