Studies on sister chromatid exchanges in peripheral lymphocytes of spray painters

In a comparative study of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in cultured lymphocytes, we evaluated the genotoxic risk in 104 male spray painters employed in repair workshops in Chennai City, India, and 50 matched healthy, unexposed controls. We found a higher frequency of SCEs among painters (3.74 +/- 0.11, mean +/- SE) than among controls (2.15 +/- 0.08), and among smoking painters (4.03 +/- 0.21) than among nonsmoking painters (3.55 +/- 0.13), with no significant difference in controls (smokers: 2.1 +/- 0.2; nonsmokers: 2.2 +/- 0.1). Alcoholism did not contribute to an increased SCE frequency. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis on painters showed that duration of service, smoking, and alcoholism significantly affected SCE scores and explained the 14% variation observed.