CYTOGENETIC BIOMONITORING IN A SPANISH GROUP OF AGRICULTURAL-WORKERS EXPOSED TO PESTICIDES

Sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) and chromosome aberrations (CA) were studied in the lymphocytes of 70 male agricultural workers occupationally exposed to several pesticides and 69 matched controls, without indication of exposure to pesticides, from 'El Maresme' (Barcelona, Spain). Comparison between both groups revealed that the individuals exposed to pesticides show substantial clastogenic effects in their lymphocytes without indication of increases in the basal frequency of SCE; moreover, these effects seem to be additive, increasing with the duration of exposure measured in years. When two confounding factors such as age and smoking habits are considered, we found that these factors increase significantly the expression of SCE although no effect was detected in the expression of CA.