NUCLEAR-POWER-INDUSTRY
GAMMA-RADIATION
GENETIC-DAMAGE

INCREASED FREQUENCY OF SISTER CHROMATID EXCHANGES IN LYMPHOCYTES OF CHERNOBYL CLEAN-UP WORKERS

A study of the occurrence of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in lymphocytes from workers cleaning up after the Chernobyl accident was conducted. The cohort consisted of 33 civilians who had been forced by Soviet military authorities to go to Chernobyl to cleanup the environmental contamination caused by the April 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power facility. They spent 1 to 6 months at Chernobyl during which they received estimated external gamma radiation doses of up to 0.25 gray. The controls consisted of 12 persons who were not at Chernobyl. Lymphocytes from blood samples collected in 1992 to 1994 were scored for SCEs. The group mean SCE frequency in the Chernobyl cleanup workers and controls was 10.30 and 7.45%, respectively; the difference was statistically significant. The authors conclude that exposure of Chernobyl cleanup workers to external radiation has caused cytogenetic changes still evident 6 to 8 years later.

International Journal of Radiation Biology, 67(6):671-676, 1995. (23 references)

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