Cytogenetic studies in lymphocytes of workers exposed to 2,3,7,8-TCDD

Chromosome aberrations and sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) were evaluated in 27 workers with current 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) blood lipid concentrations exceeding 40 parts per trillion (ppt) and in 28 unexposed referents of similar age. No statistical differences were found between the two groups in the percentages of gaps, chromatid or chromosome exchanges, chromatid or chromosome breaks/fragments/deletions, multiple aberrations, or the overall percentage of aberrations including gaps (1.33% in the exposed group vs 1.75% in the referent group) or excluding gaps (0.54% in each group). There was an increased rate of SCEs per cell (P = 0.051) and a higher percentage of cells with more than 10 SCEs (P = 0.064) in the exposed group; however, these associations were no longer significant when smoking status was included as covariate. Additionally, neither current nor back-calculated TCDD concentration was a significant predictor of these parameters based on multiple linear and rank regression analyses.