The effect of lead on the frequency of sister chromatid exchange (SCE)

The aim of our work was to study the effect of lead on the process of SCE generation. This test is a sensitive indicator evaluating the activity of factors indirectly or directly causing damage to DNA. The studies encompassed a group of students from Krakow, a large industrial city in southern Poland. From each person, blood was taken three times at intervals of three months. For each of the persons studied, blood Pb levels as well as quantity of SCE were measured three times. It was determined that there is a curvilinear correlation between the factors studied. The amount of SCE increases together with the rise in blood lead, but after the lead attains a high concentration, the frequency of sister chromatid exchange decreases. These observations were confirmed by the analysis of relation between the factors studies in individual lines.