LOW RESPONSE IN WHITE BLOOD-CELL DNA-ADDUCTS AMONG WORKERS IN A HIGHLY POLLUTED COKERY ENVIRONMENT

Coke oven workers are often heavily exposed to polynuclear aromatic hy drocarbons (PAHs); this exposure has been associated with higher cance r rates among these workers, We assessed the exposure of cokery worker s in an oil shale processing plant, Personal hygienic monitoring measu rement of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), and analysis of PAH-DNA add ucts in white blood cells (WBCs) were performed. The P-32-postlabeling method was used for adduct measurement, The mean adduct value, 1.6 ad ducts per 10(8) nucleotides, did not differ significantly from the con trol value (P = 0.098), Smokers had significantly higher adduct levels than non-smoking workers (P = 0.002). 1-OHP levels measured in post-s hift samples correlated with DNA adducts found in white blood cells (W BCs). We conclude that hygienic monitoring and measurement of urinary metabolites are essential background exposure data when the biological ly effective dose of chemical carcinogens is assessed.