Cytogenetic findings in persons living near the Love Canal

Cytogenetic analyses were performed on peripheral blood from 46 present or past residents of the area surrounding Love Canal, a former dump site for chemical wastes in Niagara Falls, NY. Participants included 17 persons in whom cytogenetic analyses had been performed in 1980 and 29 persons who had been living in 1978 in seven homes that directly adjoined the canal and in which environmental tests showed elevated levels of chemicals spreading from the canal. Frequencies of chromosomal aberrations and of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) did not differ significantly from control levels. For all participants, cigarette smoking was associated with an increase in sister chromatid exchange frequency.