Ecocytogenetics as a biomonitoring model for occupational exposure

Biomonitoring has become a potent tool for preventive medical care and occupational health policy. Recent epidemiological results confirm the utility of chromosome aberrations as a biomarker for cancer risk. The present study included 1,200 subjects exposed to physical and chemical agents. As human health genotoxicity studies are time consuming and expensive, it is necessary to select populations with the highest health risk to be studied for biomonitoring. Our results suggest genotoxicological analyses should be performed for subjects exposed to the chemicals listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as Group I carcinogens, radioisotopes, individuals that have been simultaneously exposed to ionizing radiation and ultrasound, and a subgroup of nuclear plant workers. The input of a new genotoxicological monitoring model, termed "cocytogeneties", is discussed.