EXAMINATION OF RAS (P21) PROTEINS IN PLASMA FROM WORKERS EXPOSED TO BENZENE EMISSIONS FROM PETROCHEMICAL PLANTS AND HEALTHY CONTROLS

Exposure of workers to benzene and polyaromatic hydrocarbons has been documented to be at relatively high levels in the production of benzen e and in the coking process at a petrochemical plant in the oil shale area in Estonia. Altogether 97 plasma samples from workers and 40 from unexposed matched referents from two samplings in different seasons w ere analyzed for the presence of ras (P21) proteins; of the workers 50 were exposed to benzene in the benzene production plant and 47 to pol yaromatic hydrocarbons and benzene in a cokery. Proteins were separate d by gel electrophoresis, transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane by Western blotting and detected by chemiluminescence, using a monoclonal antibody as the primary antibody. There were no statistically signifi cant differences between the exposed and the referent groups. The resu lts are thus in keeping with the lack of exposure related cytogenetic effects for this same workforce. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.