P. Kurttio et al., CHROMOSOME-ABERRATIONS IN PERIPHERAL LYMPHOCYTES OF WORKERS EMPLOYED IN THE PLYWOOD INDUSTRY, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health, 19(2), 1993, pp. 132-134
Workers employed in sawmills and in the manufacture of plywood are exp
osed to potentially mutagenic chemical aromatic emissions from wood. H
owever, very little is known about the exposure to these natural wood
components. In an attempt to determine whether such exposure could hav
e clastogenic effects, a group of 13 male nonsmoking employees mainly
from the beginning of the wood-processing line of three plywood mills
and 15 matched nonsmoking referents were studied for chromosome aberra
tions in blood lymphocytes. A statistically significant elevation of t
he frequency of cells with chromatid-type breaks (mean 2.1%), as compa
red with the corresponding frequency of the referents (mean 1.0%), was
observed for the lymphocytes of the wood workers. These results lend
support to previous studies which suggested that wood-drying fumes may
be carcinogenic.