engleski

Evaluation of DNA damage in workers occupationally expsoed to tobacco dust in cigarette manufacturing

Throughout the years, cigarette manufactures have acknowledged both medical and scientific consensus that smoking poses as a serious health hazard causing a number of diseases, such as respiratory disease, heart disease and lung cancer. In addition, tobacco dust is known to affect the respiratory tract and was also reported to cause allergies, skin rashes, wheezing, as well as dyspnoea, rhinitis, nausea, dizziness and vomiting. The aim of this study was to employ the alkaline comet assay to the goal of determining possible occupational risks conferred to subjects engaged in tobacco industry, and exposed to tobacco dust and 90strontium on a daily basis. The assessment of primary DNA damage hosted by peripheral blood leukocytes was performed using the alkaline comet assay as described by Singh et al (1988). The tail length and long-tailed nuclei as comete assay parameters were the primary outcome of the measure. The results showed that group comet tail length mean, measured in the exposed workers was 14.391.02 m whereas mean percentage of long-tailed nuclei was 8.20. In the control group, the mean tail length was 13.910.66 m and long-tailed nuclei percentage equalled to 1.88. Mean values for the tail length measured and percentage of long-tailed nuclei were significantly higher in the exposed group in compare to the control one. Within the exposed population, significant inter-individual differences in DNA damage have been found (P0.05). Gender and smoking habit prove themselves as potent confounders, both in the exposed and in the control group, as demonstrated by statistically significant differences between the male and female workers, and smokers vs non-smokers. Observed DNA damage frequency characterise the tobacco dust as an undoubted genotoxicant, and the outcome of the alkaline comet assay had stressed the importance of biomonitoring of the exposed individuals.

DNA damage; Alkaline comet assay; Cigaratte manufactures; Occupationally exposed; peripehral blood lymphocytes

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