Investigation of the genotoxic effect of pesticides on greenhouse workers' lymphocytes |
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| Authors: | Stylianos M. Piperakis Konstantia Kontogianni Georgia Karanastasi Zafiroula Iakovidou‐Kritsi Antonina Cebulska‐Wasilewska Michael M. Piperakis |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Biology Unit, Department of Pre‐School Education, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece;2. DNA Repair Laboratory, Institute of Biology, National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” Aghia Paraskevi 153 10, Athens, Greece;3. Laboratory of Biology and Genetics, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece;4. Department of Radiation and Environmental Biology, the H. Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics, Krakow, Poland |
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| Abstract: | In the present study, the genotoxic effects of commonly applied pesticides were evaluated using the alkaline comet assay (pH > 13). The amount of DNA damage (% DNA in tail) in peripheral lymphocytes of 49 male agricultural workers from Southern Poland were measured and compared to 50 men from the same area who had no previous occupational exposure to pesticides. No statistically significant differences in basal DNA damage were found between the study groups. In addition, exposure of peripheral blood lymphocytes to hydrogen peroxide (100 and 150 μM) or γ‐irradiation (2.5 or 4.2 Gy) led to a similar degree of additional DNA damage and subsequent repair (for 2 hr) for all studied populations. In conclusion, our results indicate that the greenhouse workers who participated in this study had no detectable increased DNA damage or alteration in their cellular response to DNA damage in comparison to our control population. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. |
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| Keywords: | comet assay human lymphocytes pesticides DNA damage DNA repair |
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