Cytogenetic study among workers exposed to manganese

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytogenetic effect of manganese among the exposed workers. Twenty exposed workers were matched as regard to age, sex, socioeconomic status and smoking habits with 20 controls. All subjects were not exposed to X rays, drug therapy and viral infection for at least six months prior to the study. Smoking habit was taken into consideration. Two cytogenetic assays were conducted namely, chromosomal aberrations and sister chromatid exchanges, harvest was done after 48 hr and 72 hr, respectively. The mean manganese level in the blood among the exposed subjects was 11.24 +/- 3.74 micro g/100 cc and among the controls was 3.5 +/- 1.4 micro g/100 cc, the difference was statistically significant [P < 0.05]. The cytogenetic findings revealed minimal elevation in the percentage of chromosomal aberrations and sister chromatid exchange frequencies among the exposed subjects relative to the controls; however, the differences were not statistically significant [P > 0.05]. As regard smoking, the percentage of chromosomal damages and sister chromatid exchange frequencies were significantly higher in smokers compared to non smokers in both exposed and control subjects [P < 0.05]