Genotoxic effect of ammonia exposure on workers in a fertilizer factory.

Cytogenetic investigations carried out on 22 workers exposed to ammonia in a fertilizer factory showed increased frequency of chromosome aberrations (2.00) and sister chromatid exchanges (5.21). Effect of smoking and/or drinking habits coupled with exposure to ammonia showed higher values of mitotic index, satellite associations and micronuclei in the exposed workers (6.50, 17.4 and 2.20 respectively) as compared to the controls (4.34, 8.11 and 0.14 respectively). The results indicate the genotoxic potential of ammonia gas in the ambient air of the work place.