An Assessment on Ethanol-Blended Gasoline/Diesel Fuels on Cancer Risk and Mortality

Steffen Mueller, Gail Dennison and Shujun Liu
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Steffen Mueller: Energy Resources Center, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Gail Dennison: The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, Austin, MN 55912, USA
Shujun Liu: The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, Austin, MN 55912, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-23

Abstract: Although cancer is traditionally considered a genetic disease, the epigenetic abnormalities, including DNA hypermethylation, histone deacetylation, and/or microRNA dysregulation, have been demonstrated as a hallmark of cancer. Compared with gene mutations, aberrant epigenetic changes occur more frequently, and cellular epigenome is more susceptible to change by environmental factors. Excess cancer risks are positively associated with exposure to occupational and environmental chemical carcinogens, including those from gasoline combustion exhausted in vehicles. Of note, previous studies proposed particulate matter index (PMI) as a measure for gasoline sooting tendency, and showed that, compared with the other molecules in gasoline, 1,2,4–Trimethylbenzene, 2–methylnaphthalene and toluene significantly contribute to PMI of the gasoline blends. Mechanistically, both epigenome and genome are important in carcinogenicity, and the genotoxicity of chemical agents has been thoroughly studied. However, less effort has been put into studying the epigenotoxicity. Moreover, as the blending of ethanol into gasoline substitutes for carcinogens, like benzene, toluene, xylene, butadiene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, etc., a reduction of secondary aromatics has been achieved in the atmosphere. This may lead to diminished cancer initiation and progression through altered cellular epigenetic landscape. The present review summarizes the most important findings in the literature on the association between exposures to carcinogens from gasoline combustion, cancer epigenetics and the potential epigenetic impacts of biofuels.

Keywords: biofuels; benzene; BTEX; BTX; COVID-19; carcinogens; DNA methyltransferases; DNMT; DNA methylation; ethanol; epigenotoxicity; gasoline combustion; genotoxicity; histone modification; HAT; histone acetyltransferases; histone deacetylases; HDAC; microRNAs; PAHs; PM emission; ten–eleven translocation methylcytosine dioxygenases; TET (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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