Current state and future trends in the estimation of human genetic risk from environmental chemicals in the Czech Socialist Republic.

The paper reviews results achieved in a pilot study about the effect of chemical mutagens on the Czech population. The method of non-work population studies revealed that the most significantly changing category was the frequency of birth defects. In a group of workers occupationally exposed to epichlorohydrin and haloethers, the suitability of cytogenetic analysis of peripheral lymphocytes as an indicator of occupational damage was tested. Current trends indicate that the late effects of genetic damage due to exposure to environmental factors are becoming a population problem. For this reason a program has been worked out for late effect studies to be conducted by the hygienic service and methods are recommended to be used for occupational and non-occupational exposure analyses. Their merits will be experimentally verified up to 1980. The objective of the program is to prove the practical applicability of the two methods and to obtain reliable data for preventive measures to be accepted to reduce the genetic risk to the population and the individual.