DNA Damage by Heavy Metals in Animals and Human Beings: An Overview

Cancer-causing materials are found in air, water and in some other consumer products in the form of heavy metals. Biomedical research has shown that exposure to heavy metals is an important source of DNA damage in human beings and in animals. Heavy metals like iron, copper, chromium, lead, zinc, mercury, nickel etc. and reactive oxygen species enhance peroxidation of lipids and DNA damage. Elements like arsenic, nickel and cadmium are the ambassadors of mutagenic changes in cell. In mammalian cells it was found that DNA single-strand breaks chromosomal aberrations occurred and sister chromatids exchange due to various nickel salts. It is now a well-established fact that cadmium causes cancer in tissues of animals. Exposure to cadmium develops cancer in the prostate gland, kidney, liver and stomach. Through base pair mutation cancer-causing metals damage DNA. However, some heavy metals directly damage the DNA thus generating negative results. The synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins is affected by cadmium. However, cadmium does not have a strong mutagenic nature when compared to other heavy metals. The present review aims to prospect the exposure (of human beings and animals) to heavy metals, cause of different diseases in both and mutagenic effect of heavy metals on double strand repair.