studied in persons exposed to ionizing radiat
well as to a variety of exogenous agents such
cyclamates, caffeine, and LSD.
More recently
effects of elements such as cadmium that are
vironmental pollutants suspected of contribut
to human disease ?® have been studied.
Radiat
induced human chromosome aberration yields ha
been used to estimate radiation doses receive:
- people involved in radiation accidents involv
whole-body exposure to 60,19
Similar studi:
also been performed on peripheral blood leuco
obtained from subjects exposed years ago to TI
20,21
232
trast;
the element
Th decays through
6 alpha and 4 beta disintegrations to 2085, (i
90 percent of the radiation energy is associat
Fig. 10.
Autoradiograph of lung section of subject
No. 2 showing a radioactive particle.
with high LET alpha rays).
Radium daughter pr
ucts deposit in bone, thoron is exhaled, and c
sequently both bone and lung tissue are irradi
in the liver of human subjects, we can make no
Finally, the chromosomes of blood lymphocytes
quantitative statements concerning the observations
patients with body burdens of radium have been
in several persons who were measured.
analyzed; many of these patients were exposed
Plutonium
within the bone cannot be measured by the tm vivo
to World War 11.77>23
counting technique.
dium patients, marked excesses of chromosome a.
Traces of plutonium were de-
tected by counting the hands of several subjects
known to have hand wounds while working with plutonium in 1944 or 1945.
located in one
case
The site was precisely
(subject No.
estimated to be 5.3 + 0.4 nCi.
1)
and the amount
Of interest is the
In both Thorotrast and
rations were reported.
Because of observations of chronic lympho.
in dogs exposed to plutonium oxide aerosols, o:
might expect to observe chromosome damage in 1:
cytes of exposed plutonium workers.
This obse:
observation that the subject erroneousiy thought
tion led Dolphin?“ to investigate the possibil:
that the wound was on the other hand.
of chromosomal aberrations in lymphocyte cultur
At present,
the skin overlying the active site appears to be
obtained from workers in England known to have
grossly normal except for minimal scaling.
exposed to plutonium.
We plan
He compared the findings
to make additional measurements on and cbservations
8 plutonium workers who had been exposed to plu
of this deposit in the future.
nium plus 14 rads of external irradiation over
D.
year period with workers who had received exter
Chromosome Analysis
irradiation only and found that the dicentric y
During the 1971-1972 visit to the LASL, blood
of lymphocytes of the plutonium workers could b.
samples were obtained from the UPPU group for chro-
accounted for by the extemal radiation dose re-
mosome studies using standardized,
ceived by the workers.
established
Dolphin@4 also cites an
Aithough no abnormalities were found
other case in which a plutonium worker was foun
in these subjects, we plan to add newly developed
by chest-counting, to have 10 to 20 times the pe
chromosome banding techniques to our procedures
missible level of plutonium in the lung about
techniques.
when the group is next studied.
During recent years,
considerable interest has
3 years after an inhalation accident.
Chromosor
analysis indicated minimal radiation damage to t
been directed at the effects of various stressing
lymphocyte series even at a high level of expos.
agents on chromosomes of lymphocytes in the per-
of the patient.
ipheral blood.
chromosomes obtained from uranium miners exposec
The induction of chromosomal aber-
rations in human peripheral leucocytes has been
18
Other investigators are studyir.
a variety of stressing agents, including radiati