Jn. Lucas et al., DOSE-RESPONSE CURVE FOR CHROMOSOME TRANSLOCATIONS MEASURED IN HUMAN-LYMPHOCYTES EXPOSED TO CO-60 GAMMA-RAYS, Health physics, 68(6), 1995, pp. 761-765
Chromosome painting was employed to measure frequencies of reciprocal
translocations in human lymphocytes induced by Co-60 gamma rays, with
emphasis on low doses. Translocations and dicentrics were distinguishe
d by use of a pan-centromeric probe. A total of 41,151 metaphases were
analyzed at doses below 0.2 Gy. The linear ''take-off'' slope of the
linear-quadratic dose-response curve for translocations, i.e., the alp
ha coefficient, was measured to be 0.023 +/- 0.005 translocations per
cell per Gy. This alpha coefficient is more precise than previously me
asured. Because the alpha coefficient is the dominant contributor to t
he translocation frequency induced by low-level exposures, the results
presented here will substantially reduce uncertainties in biodosimetr
y estimates obtained for stable translocations.