Chromosome analysis of lymphocytes from workers at an ethylene oxide plant

Samples of peripheral blood were collected from 33 men who had been employed in the manufacture of ethylene oxide for between 1 and 14 years, and from 32 men from other parts of the same plant who were used as controls. Their lymphocytes were analysed for chromosome damage. There were low frequencies of polyploidy, chromatid aberrations and chromosome breaks in the cells of the 65 men. A slightly higher frequency of chromatid aberrations was observed in the cells of the ethylene oxide workers than in those of the controls, but the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. There was a positive correlation between length of employment in the ethylene oxide group and the numbers of aberrations in the cultures of each individual. This trend was not solely attributable to the age of the men. The levels of chromatid and chromosome damage observed in this study are consistent with those in humans who have not recently been exposed to known chromosome-breaking agents.