Friis L, Vaghef H, Edling C, Hellman B
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
Occup Environ Med. 1997 Jul;54(7):494-8. doi: 10.1136/oem.54.7.494.
To study whether sewage workers are exposed to genotoxic substances. An increased risk of cancers among sewage workers has been noted. If this increased risk is due to an exposure to genotoxic agents, primarily DNA damage could be used as a biological marker of exposure.
In a cross sectional study, DNA damage in peripheral lymphocytes from 35 sewage workers and 30 controls was compared with alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis, a technique for detecting single strand breaks and alkali labile sites in DNA. The controls were selected from among municipal workers matched for age and smoking habit. Information about occupational exposures and possible confounders was collected by means of a questionnaire.
No increase in DNA damage was found among the sewage workers when compared with the unexposed controls.
The failure to detect increased damage to DNA in peripheral lymphocytes by alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis suggests that the sewage workers studied here were not exposed to genotoxic agents to a greater extent than other municipal workers. It may be, however, that the lymphocyte is not the appropriate target cell to study, or that sewage workers are exposed to carcinogens which do not damage the genetic material.
研究污水工人是否接触遗传毒性物质。污水工人患癌症的风险有所增加。如果这种风险增加是由于接触遗传毒性剂所致，那么主要的DNA损伤可作为接触的生物学标志物。
在一项横断面研究中，采用碱性单细胞凝胶电泳技术（一种检测DNA单链断裂和碱不稳定位点的技术），比较了35名污水工人和30名对照者外周淋巴细胞中的DNA损伤情况。对照者选自年龄和吸烟习惯相匹配的市政工人。通过问卷调查收集职业接触和可能的混杂因素信息。
与未接触的对照者相比，污水工人的DNA损伤未增加。
通过碱性单细胞凝胶电泳未能检测到外周淋巴细胞中DNA损伤增加，这表明本研究中的污水工人接触遗传毒性剂的程度并不比其他市政工人更高。然而，可能淋巴细胞不是合适的研究靶细胞，或者污水工人接触的致癌物不会损伤遗传物质。
