Children Living near a Sanitary Landfill Have Increased Breath Methane and Methanobrevibacter smithii in Their Intestinal Microbiota

• Main Authors: Humberto Bezerra de Araujo Filho, Mirian Silva Carmo-Rodrigues, Carolina Santos Mello, Lígia Cristina Fonseca Lahoz Melli, Soraia Tahan, Antonio Carlos Campos Pignatari, Mauro Batista de Morais
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2014-01-01
• Series: Archaea
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/576249

This study evaluated the breath CH4 excretion and concentration of M. smithii in intestinal microbiota of schoolchildren from 2 slums. One hundred and eleven children from a slum near a sanitary landfill, 35 children of a slum located away from the sanitary landfill, and 32 children from a high socioeconomic level school were included in the study. Real-time PCR was performed to quantify the M. smithii nifH gene and it was present in the microbiota of all the participating children, with higher P<0.05 concentrations in those who lived in the slum near the landfill (3.16×107 CFU/g of feces), comparing with the children from the slum away from the landfill (2.05×106 CFU/g of feces) and those from the high socioeconomic level group (3.93×105 CFU/g of feces). The prevalence of children who present breath methane was 53% in the slum near the landfill, 31% in the slum further away from the landfill and, 22% in the high socioeconomic level group. To live near a landfill is associated with higher concentrations of M. smithii in intestinal microbiota, comparing with those who live away from the landfill, regardless of their socioeconomics conditions.