Case report: karyotypic and chromosome aberration analysis of subjects exposed to indoor radon.

There are many conflicting data on the actual tumorigenicity of radon and its progeny with respect to indoor radon. Furthermore, although it was generally assumed that radon exposure causes a negligible radiation dose to bone marrow, some authors reported a radon related risk for leukemia (Henshaw et al. 1990; Alexander et al. 1990; Eatough and Henshaw 1993; Haque and Kirk 1992). Cytogenetic analyses in peripheral blood lymphocytes from radon-exposed subjects may provide further biological evidence of whether significant doses are received by target cells in the marrow. According to previously published data demonstrating an association between radon exposure and chromosomal aberrations, radon-induced chromosome aberrations significantly include inversions, translocations, dicentrics, and ring chromosomes (Brandom et al. 1978; Bauchinger et al. 1994). Furthermore, it was also found that subjects living in areas with low radon levels had unexpectedly high frequencies of chromosome aberrations in their lymphocytes (Pohl-Ruehling 1988). Therefore, we though it worthwhile to perform a cytogenetic and karyotypic investigation on a limited number of subjects who were included in other radon studies. If very low radon levels are able to induce chromosome aberrations this should also be seen in our subjects, whereas the karyotypic analysis may especially reveal the presence ofmore » stable aberrations. 14 refs., 2 tabs.« less