[The increase of micronuclei frequencies of peripheral blood lymphocyte in plywood workers exposed accumulatively to formaldehyde].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of occupational exposure to formaldehyde on the micronuclei frequencies in peripheral blood lymphocytes of workers.


METHODS
Two hundred thirty six plywood workers were divided into 3 exposure groups (low, middle and high) according to internal exposure biomarker (formaldehyde human serum albumin conjugate, FA-HSA), which was detected by ELISA. The concentrations of formaldehyde (FA) in air of two workshops were measure using the high performance liquid chromatography. Cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) test was used to detect the micronuclei frequencies of peripheral blood lymphocyte in 236 workers.


RESULTS
The average concentrations of FA in the low and high exposure workshops were 0.58 +/- 0.20 and 1.48 +/- 0.61 mg/m3, respectively, there was significant difference (P < 0.01). The average concentrations of serum FA-HAS of workers in two workshops were 69.22 +/- 15.37 and 136.29 +/- 89.49 pg/ml, respectively, there was significant difference (P < 0.01). The results of CBMN test showed that the micronucleus frequencies in low, middle and high exposure groups were 1.94 +/- 1.72, 2.10 +/- 1.92 and 2.10 +/- 1.70 per thousand, respectively, there were no significant differences between groups. However, the micronucleus frequencies in accumulative low, middle and high exposure groups were 1.36 +/- 1.36, 2.31 +/- 1.81 and 2.49 +/- 1.92 per thousand, respectively, there were significant differences between different accumulative exposure groups (P < 0.01). The results of correlation analysis indicated that there was a positive correlation between accumulative exposure levels and micronucleus frequencies (r(s) = 0.321, P < 0.01). The accumulative exposure doses may be a risk factor for high micronucleus frequencies in workers exposed to FA (P(trend) = 0.002).


CONCLUSIONS
FA-HSA levels can serve as an internal exposure biomarker for assessing the exposure level of workers exposed to FA. Accumulative formaldehyde exposure resulted in an increase of micronuclei frequencies of peripheral blood lymphocyte in plywood workers.
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Yao-Jing
YJ
Guo
Da-Feng
DF
Lin
Ji-Hu
JH
Yi
Dan
D
Kuang
Hua-Xin
HX
Deng
Xiao-Hai
XH
Li
Zhi-Hu
ZH
Zhang
Tang-Chun
TC
Wu
D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D012130:Respiratory Hypersensitivity / Q000097:blood*
D015415:Biomarkers; D005557:Formaldehyde