Chromosome Aberrations as a Biological Dose-Response Indicator of Radiation Exposure in Uranium Miners

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Abstract
Cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes of controls and U miners are analyzed for the prevalence of structural chromosomal aberrations. The frequency data are compared between controls and 5 groups of miners with exposures expressed in working level months (WLM). The prevalence of dicentrics + rings is not a good biological dose-response indicator. There is a marked decrease in the prevalence of deletions or dicentrics + rings + deletions in the most highly exposed individuals (group V; > 3000 WLM). Apart from the group V results, all aberration categories except dicentrics + rings demonstrate a significant and monotonic biological response increasing uniformly with estimated radiation dose through group IV (1740-2890 WLM). Including group V individuals, the aberration category which shows the most consistent pattern of increase with dose is the pericentric inversions + translocations grouping (Spearman''s rs = 0.943; P = 0.01). Excepting dicentrics + rings, the prevalence of chromosome aberrations is a sensitive biological indicator of low-level U miner irradiation. Significant (P = 0.01) differences in the prevalence of chromosome aberrations are observed between miners with regular to mildly atypical bronchial cell cytology and those with markedly atypical cells to carcinoma in situ. A marked increase in the prevalence of chromosome aberrations is probably a valid indicator of health risk in the miner groups. The relevance of the chromosome aberrations test for individual miners is more difficult to assess, but the absence of a high frequency of aberrations in an individual cannot be construed as a lack of risk. The application of radiation cytogenetic monitoring to other populations potentially exposed to high doses of radon daughters is discussed.

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