title: Lymphocyte DNA damage in Turkish asphalt workers detected by the comet assay.
abstract: Asphalt has a highly complex structure and it contains several organic compounds including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic compounds. In this study, comet assay was used to detect the DNA damage in blood lymphocytes of 30 workers exposed to asphalt fumes and 30 nonexposed controls. This is the first report on Turkish asphalt workers' investigated DNA damage using the alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE). The DNA damage was evaluated by the percentage of DNA in the comet tail (% tail DNA) for each cell. According to our results, workers exposed to asphalt fumes had higher DNA damage than the control group (p < 0.01). The present study showed that asphalt fumes caused a significant increase in DNA damage and the comet assay is a suitable method for determining DNA damage in asphalt workers.
authors: a Department of Nutrition and Dietetics , Fazil Boyner School of Health, Kastamonu University , Kastamonu , Turkey .
authors: Aysegul
authors: A
authors: Bacaksiz
authors: Zeliha
authors: Z
authors: Kayaalti
authors: Esma
authors: E
authors: Soylemez
authors: Engin
authors: E
authors: Tutkun
authors: Tulin
authors: T
authors: Soylemezoglu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000633:toxicity*; D020552:Comet Assay; D060389:Construction Industry; D004249:DNA Damage; D006801:Humans; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000633:toxicity*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D006838:Hydrocarbons; C006647:asphalt