title: Biological monitoring of chemical exposure in nickel workers by imaging cytometry (ICM) of nasal smears.
abstract: Highly sensitive and inexpensive methods that are not time consuming are desirable for monitoring the workplace environment for the detection of cytotoxic hazards, particularly cancerous risks. It is possible to detect precancerous and cancerous lesions in samples taken by brushing the nose, but the cytological diagnoses can be affected by an inability to obtain representative smears from the sometimes very small focal lesions, and uncertainties in the subjective interpretation of suspicious cells when these are small in number. In an attempt to improve diagnosis we applied imaging cytometry (ICM) and tested the concept of malignancy-associated changes (MAC) in routinely Papanicolaou-stained smears. Cells of non-goblet type that visually appeared normal were selected from nickel workers with and without dysplastic lesions of the nasal mucosa. A set of nuclear features was measured by ICM and used for discriminant analysis. We were able to differentiate between workers with non-dysplastic normal and suspicious mucosa smears and those with dysplastic lesions. Unexpectedly, it was found possible to distinguish between workers in the roasting/smelting and the electrolysis departments, who were exposed to different carcinogenic nickel compounds. A further surprising finding was the possibility to distinguish smokers and non-smokers among the nickel workers.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Reith
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reichborn-Kjennerud
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aubele
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Jütting
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gais
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003584:Cytological Techniques; D004572:Electrolysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D009532:Nickel / Q000633:toxicity*; D009669:Nose Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D009532:Nickel