Exposure to Pollutants: Genotoxic Effects in Plants and Immunotoxic Effects in Humans.* Ala Sadowska,** Nik van Larebeke,*** Jose-Geronimo Amaral Mendes,+ Bernard Husson,++ Zbigniew Wagner,# and Eric Pluygers##
Genotoxic activity in the air at the Cour-au-Bois landfill in Belgium was measured using the Tradescantia micronucleus assay. Using standard techniques and multiparameter flow cytometry, immunological parameters were assessed in landfill workers in comparison with controls and with more heavily exposed workers. Genotoxic activity amounted to a mean of 7.38% micronuclei (MCN) on the landfill, 6.35% MCN in the immediate surroundings (less than 100 in), 5.50% MCN at greater distance, 7.39% at a main street in a nearby town, and 10.36% MCN a few meters from a nearby busy highway. Compared to controls, landfill workers showed slight but significant (p<0.05) increases in leukocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, CD8+ lymphocytes and complement C3, but values for CD3+CD56+ lymphocytes (96±76 vs 86±69 for controls) and for the ratio of CD4+ over CD8+ lymphocytes were similar to those in controls. More heavily exposed workers (n=16) had, compared to controls (n=67), a mean of 199±9l CD3+CD56+ lymphocytes/µL versus 86±69 (p<0.0001); 5 of these 16 workers (31%) as against 6 out of 64 controls (9%) (p<0.03) had a CD4/CD8 ratio below unity. Smoking and occupational exposure had a different spectrum of immunological effects. The genotoxic air pollution at the Cour-au-Bois landfill falls far below that caused by old-style landfills. More important occupational exposure appears to be associated, at least in some persons, with immunological anomalies not seen in Cour-au-Bois landfill workers. This combined approach could be used for the evaluation of the effects of agricultural pollution.
*Presented, in part, at the Fourth International Symposium "Rural Health and Safety in a Changing World" held October 18-22, 1998, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
**Dept of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Warsaw
Agricultural University, Warsaw, Poland.
***Experimental Cancerology, Dept of Radiotherapy, Nuclear
Medicine and Experimental Cancerology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Mailing
address: Terkluizendreef 45, B1640 Sint Genesius Rode, Belgium; telephone
32.2.380.14.10, GSNI mobile phone 32.75.44.99.55, fax 32.2.381.16.45, e-mail
n.vanlarebeke@vmm.be.
+Ecotoxicology,
University of Evora, Portugal (participant in NATO/CCMS pilot study on
"Advanced Assessment Methods of Cancer Risk, Phase II").
++Flow Cytometry
Dept., Biology Laboratory, Jolimont Hospital, La Louvičre, Belgium.
#Dept. of Genetics, Plant Breeding and
Biotechnology, Warsaw Agricultural University, Warsaw, Poland.
##Oncology Dept.,
Jolimont Hospital, La Louvičre, Belgium (participant in NATO/CCMS pilot study
on "Advanced Assessment Methods of Cancer Risk, Phase II").
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