[Study of the genotoxic effects of exposure to cosmic radiation in flight personnel using cytogenetic and molecular techniques].

BACKGROUND

The ever-increasing use of air travel suggests the need to study health risks in flight personnel, by means of correct exposure assessment and evaluation of genotoxic effects.

OBJECTIVES

After taking into consideration occupational risk and possible confounding factors, we studied 48 pilots and flight technicians engaged on long-haul flights together with a control group of 48 ground staff, with the aim of evaluating genotoxic effects of cosmic radiation exposure. On 36/48 subjects we also evaluated the presence of DNA damage (single and double strand breaks).

METHODS

Traditional cytogenetics, the micronucleus test and FISH analysis, were used to study chromosome aberrations, micronuclei and translocations. The Comet test was used to analyze direct DNA damage (single and double strand breaks).

RESULTS

Our findings indicated a significant increase in gaps and breaks and a significant increase of frequency ratio for translocations in pilots compared to controls, but revealed a non-significant difference in unstable aberrations and micronuclei. The Comet test did not show any significant increase of DNA damage in flight personnel with respect to ground staff.

CONCLUSIONS

The possibility of a correlation between translocations and cancer risk emphasizes the need to adopt preventive measures for air flight personnel.