Oxygen Toxicity and Hemoglobinemia in Subjects from a Highly Polluted Town

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Abstract
Red blood cell activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, two key enzymes responsible for the control of the concentrations of activated oxygen species, were approximately two-fold higher in residents of Vila Parisi (Cubatão, Brazil)—a higher polluted neighborhood—than in a population sample from São Paulo City. The catalase levels were the same in both samples. A concurrent high concentration of methemoglobinemia and sulfhemoglobinemia was encountered in the blood of Vila Parisi residents. These data raise the possibility that the increased rate of oxyhemoglobin oxidation yielding O and H2O2 may be relevant to mutagenesis induced by HO° radicals.