Open AccessChromosome aberrations in peripheral lymphocytes of workers employed in the plywood industry.
Author(s) -
Päivi Kurttio,
Hannu Norppa,
Hilkka Järventaus,
Marja Sorsa,
Pentti Kalliokoski
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of work, environment and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.621
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1795-990X
pISSN - 0355-3140
DOI - 10.5271/sjweh.1495
Subject(s) - clastogen , peripheral blood , chromosome , carcinogen , toxicology , wood industry , occupational exposure , lymphocyte , chromatid , biology , pulp and paper industry , immunology , genetics , medicine , toxicity , environmental health , engineering , genotoxicity , ecology , gene
Workers employed in sawmills and in the manufacture of plywood are exposed to potentially mutagenic chemical aromatic emissions from wood. However, very little is known about the exposure to these natural wood components. In an attempt to determine whether such exposure could have clastogenic effects, a group of 13 male nonsmoking employees mainly from the beginning of the wood-processing line of three plywood mills and 15 matched nonsmoking referents were studied for chromosome aberrations in blood lymphocytes. A statistically significant elevation of the frequency of cells with chromatid-type breaks (mean 2.1%), as compared with the corresponding frequency of the referents (mean 1.0%), was observed for the lymphocytes of the wood workers. These results lend support to previous studies which suggested that wood-drying fumes may be carcinogenic.