Chromosome intra- and inter-changes determined by G-banding in radiation workers with invivo exposure to plutonium

Abstract

Suggestions that exposure to intakes of alpha-emitting radionuclides such as plutoniumcould result in a specific profile of chromosome damage distinguishable from that of lowLET irradiation have led to the re-analysis of the different types of chromosome aberrationsin peripheral blood lymphocytes determined by G-banding in a group of 20 plutoniumworkers from the British Nuclear Fuels plc facility at Sellafield, UK. Comparisonswere made with a group of workers with negligible plutonium intakes but similarexternal gamma doses and with an unexposed control group. Examination of simpletranslocation frequencies in the three groups indicated a significant difference(P = 0.033), with the higher frequency in the plutonium workers indicating that exposure fromplutonium was contributing to the aberration yield. Slightly raised frequenciesof both intra-chromosomal and complex aberrations were observed in theplutonium workers in comparison with the comparable external exposure groupand the control group but the difference did not reach significance at theP = 0.05 level and there was no variation in the relative frequencies of the different aberration typesbetween the three groups. There was, therefore, no firm indication from this studythat either intra-chromosomal or complex aberrations could be used as a specificmarker of high LET exposure in workers with historical intakes of plutonium.