摘要：The risks of carcinogenic
and co-carcinogenic effects from asbestos continue owing to the persistence of
the fibres from mining, milling, manufacturing and its use in building materials
and other products. This paper wass aimed to achieve the risk assessment in
occupational exposures to asbestos in an industrial unit producing
asbestos-cement for a period of 30 years and also an evaluation of the possible
correlation between exposure and cytogenetic alterations in peripheral blood,
which might be a quantitative comparable and reliable method of risk assessment.
Material and methods . The retrospective
evaluation of the magnitude of occupational risk has been performed on the basis
of the laboratory data established through the “membrane filter” method. The
enhancement of cytogenetic alterations by using the peripheral lymphocyte
cultures - Evans and O’Riordan, method - on a representative group of 30
subjects, with the mean age of 42.2 ± 8.9 years and the
work length in asbestos industry of 17.5 ± 8.7 years was
performed. The results were compared with those of a matched control group
through the “t” Student test and the Spearman correlation factor for
p < 0.05. The obvious
correlation between the incidence of cytogenetic alterations, the cumulated
exposure and the work length, respectively have been calculated. Results. The exposure risk, quantified
in fibres/ml (l > 5mm, d > 3mm, l/d ≥3/1),
evaluated after 1981 presented the following values: in 1981-1985 32 f/ml and in
1998 0.003 f/ml. The employees who have taken contact with the asbestos powders
presented significantly higher frequencies for the structural chromosomal
aberrations, compared to the control group have registered values of 3.60
± 1.39 (IC95%
3.05-4.17) and 1.85 ± 1.05 (IC95%
1.42-2.27). Conclusion . Asbestos is carcinogenic for
humans. The latency period for tumor occurrence is about 20 years. Our results
with regard high correlation of the cytogenetic aberrations and the cancer
incidence in populations occupationally or environmentally exposed to
potentially genotoxic factors are in concordance with the recent literature in
the field.
关键词：asbestos, occupational
exposure, chromosomal aberrations, cancer
