Heavy metals in wild house mice from coal-mining areas of Colombia and expression of genes related to oxidative stress, DNA damage and exposure to metals

- Mice were caught in houses from the surroundings in a reference site and coal mining areas in Northern Colombia.
- Compared to reference site, hepatic tissue of mice living near coal mining showed greater levels of some heavy metals.
- Gene expression markers of oxidative stress, metal exposure and DNA damage in hepatic tissue were different between sites.
- Wild organisms are useful for the assessment of molecular changes from environmental stress associated with coal mining.