Study on micronucleus frequency in peripheral lymphocytes in workers of match factories

This paper reports the results of the study of micronucleus frequency in peripheral lymphocytes in workers exposed to soft wood dust (poplar and linden wood) in match factories. 298 workers exposed to soft wood dust in three match factories were defined as exposure group and 45 waiters in a restaurant as control group. The frequency of micronucleus in peripheral lymphocytes was examined and the control's 95% confidential upper limit >, 4/1000 was defined as the standard to determine the positivity. The positive rate in the exposure group was 36.2% while that in the control group was only 4.4%; the difference is significant (P < 0.01). As the coefficient of correlation between length of work and positive rate was 0.86 (P < 0.01), a dose/time-response is in existence. Meanwhile, the analysis of relation between quantity of smoking and positive rate eliminated the effect of smoking on variation of positive rates. In this paper, we also discussed the relation between positive rates and wood dust concentrations in different worksites and we think that the volatile and unsteady substances in soft wood dust are micronucleus-inducing matters.