title: Micronucleus frequency in Danish schoolchildren and their mothers from the DEMOCOPHES population.
abstract: Micronucleus (MN) frequency is a biomarker for early genetic effects which is often used in human biomonitoring studies. Increased frequency of micronuclei has been associated with high levels of traffic exposure. Further high MN frequency was found predictive for cancer development in several studies of adults. In the present study, the MN frequency in blood samples from the Danish participants of the European pilot project DEMOCOPHES was analysed and related to the area of residence, self-reported and calculated exposure to road traffic as well as to mercury in hair and blood concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and dioxin-like activity measured in the same participants. The MN frequency analysis was performed with the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay and included 100 children and 119 mothers. We found a significant correlation between mothers and children in the levels of micronuclei in 1000 binucleated T lymphocytes (‰MNBN) and in the proliferation index. Further the levels of ‰MNBN were significantly higher in mothers compared with their children. No significant associations were found for ‰MNBN for traffic related exposure in neither children nor their mothers. In children, a 2.5 times higher micronuclei in mononuclear T lymphocytes were found in children living within 50 m of a busy road, however, this was not found in mothers or in MNBN and the effect of exposure to road traffic on MN frequency needs further investigation. No significant associations were found between MN frequencies and the other biomarkers measured in the same participants.
authors.forename: Thit A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mørck
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Genetics), Faculty of Science and Bio-Engineering, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussel, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kim Vande
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Loock
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark and.
authors.forename: Maria Bech
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.affiliation: The Research Unit for General Practice and Section of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, 1410 Copenhagen K, Denmark.
authors.forename: Volkert D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Siersma
authors.forename: Jeanette K S
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark and.
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hertel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Genetics), Faculty of Science and Bio-Engineering, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussel, Belgium.
authors.forename: Micheline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kirsch-Volders
authors.forename: Lisbeth E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Knudsen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003718:Denmark; D004147:Dioxins / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis; D048629:Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D004147:Dioxins; D008628:Mercury