Sudha Sellappa, Kripa Subhadra Keyan, Shibily Prathyumnan, Joseph Shyn, Balachandar Vellingiri
Unit of Molecular Diagnosis and Drug Discovery, Department of Biotechnology, Karpagam University, Coimbatore, India.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2011;12(4):1041-4.
Hexavalent chromium Cr (VI) used in shielded metal arc welding is widely recognized to act as a carcinogen, mutagen and teratogen. The carcinogenic potential of metals is a major issue in defining human health risk from exposure. Hence in the present investigation, 66 welders and 60 control subjects with similar mean ages, smoking prevalences and alcohol consumption were enrolled for DNA damage analysis of buccal cells by micronucleus (MN) and comet assay. Welders showed a significant increase in micronucleated cells compared to controls and a larger mean comet tail length. The current study thus suggested that chronic occupational exposure to Cr (VI) during welding could lead to increased level of DNA damage. Understanding the complexity of the relationships between exposure, basal DNA damage and MN frequencies requires larger scale studies and application of complementary biomarkers.
在手工电弧焊中使用的六价铬Cr(VI)被广泛认为是一种致癌物、诱变剂和致畸剂。金属的致癌潜力是确定人类接触风险对健康影响的一个主要问题。因此，在本研究中，招募了66名焊工和60名年龄均值、吸烟率和酒精摄入量相似的对照对象，通过微核(MN)和彗星试验对颊细胞进行DNA损伤分析。与对照组相比，焊工的微核细胞显著增加，彗星尾长的平均长度更大。因此，当前研究表明，焊接过程中长期职业接触Cr(VI)可能导致DNA损伤水平增加。了解接触、基础DNA损伤和MN频率之间关系的复杂性需要更大规模的研究和应用互补生物标志物。
