title: Occupational exposure to formaldehyde, hematotoxicity, and leukemia-specific chromosome changes in cultured myeloid progenitor cells.
abstract: There are concerns about the health effects of formaldehyde exposure, including carcinogenicity, in light of elevated indoor air levels in new homes and occupational exposures experienced by workers in health care, embalming, manufacturing, and other industries. Epidemiologic studies suggest that formaldehyde exposure is associated with an increased risk of leukemia. However, the biological plausibility of these findings has been questioned because limited information is available on the ability of formaldehyde to disrupt hematopoietic function. Our objective was to determine if formaldehyde exposure disrupts hematopoietic function and produces leukemia-related chromosome changes in exposed humans. We examined the ability of formaldehyde to disrupt hematopoiesis in a study of 94 workers in China (43 exposed to formaldehyde and 51 frequency-matched controls) by measuring complete blood counts and peripheral stem/progenitor cell colony formation. Further, myeloid progenitor cells, the target for leukemogenesis, were cultured from the workers to quantify the level of leukemia-specific chromosome changes, including monosomy 7 and trisomy 8, in metaphase spreads of these cells. Among exposed workers, peripheral blood cell counts were significantly lowered in a manner consistent with toxic effects on the bone marrow and leukemia-specific chromosome changes were significantly elevated in myeloid blood progenitor cells. These findings suggest that formaldehyde exposure can have an adverse effect on the hematopoietic system and that leukemia induction by formaldehyde is biologically plausible, which heightens concerns about its leukemogenic potential from occupational and environmental exposures.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. luoping@berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Luoping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaojiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Nathaniel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rothman
authors.forename: Roel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vermeulen
authors.forename: Zhiying
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Chuangyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Songwang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reiss
authors.forename: Laura Beane
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: Yichen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Alan E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Hubbard
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blair
authors.forename: Noe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Galvan
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Blanche P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Alter
authors.forename: Kerry X
authors.initials: KX
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.forename: Senhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lee E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Sungkyoon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yuxuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azuma
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hauptmann
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Laiyu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rappaport
authors.forename: Hanlin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Joseph F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Fraumeni
authors.forename: Martyn T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000782:Aneuploidy; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D002273:Carcinogens; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002897:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7 / Q000187:drug effects*; D002898:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8 / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007938:Leukemia / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D023461:Myeloid Progenitor Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D002273:Carcinogens; D005557:Formaldehyde