RESUMO
Free radicals are molecules or atoms that due to their single electron have high reactivity. An imbalance between production of free radicals and antioxidant defensive system of human causes oxidative stress, which can create more than one hundred kinds of disease. Since environmental pollutants are a source of free radicals and Arak is an industrial city, this study was performed to determine the antioxidant capacity of 15-17 years old students of the city. This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 720 students [395 females and 325 males] selected by multiuse sampling. The total antioxidant capacity of saliva in these students was measured by ferric reducing ability of plasma [FRAP] method, which is based on the ability of saliva to reduce ferrous [Fe[+3]] to ferric ion [Fe[+2]]. The total antioxidant capacity of saliva was 1.53 +/- 0.065 micro m/ml. This amount was 1.64 +/- 0.071 in males and 1.42 +/- 0.059 micro m/ml in females. Our results showed that antioxidant capacity of Arak students was lower than that of antioxidant capacity in other studies. This factor, as an antioxidant disturbance, may cause different diseases in the students of this city