Evaluation of Chromosomal Aberrations and Micronuclei in Medical Workers Chronically Exposed to Low Dose Ionizing Radiation

Medical workers representing the group is the most consistently are exposed to low
doses of ionizing radiation, prolonged low-level ionizing radiation can induce chromosomal
aberrations (CAs). This study would evaluate the cytogenetic effect using
the CAs based on dicentric, and cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (CBMN) assay
on hospital workers. The exposed group divided to Interventional and Diagnostic
groups then compared to non exposed group. The accumulated absorbed doses calculated
for the radiation workers were below 5mSv. Blood samples were obtained
from 29 samples of medical workers, and 15 samples of control. The Study showed
that the frequency of dicentric chromosomes both in exposed and control were
not found. In case of micronuclei, the mean frequencies were observed in exposed
group that was (19 ±6.22) and (16.25 ± 6.04) respectively and the control group was
(10.4±7.79). Frequency MN/1000 cell in the lymphocytes both in the two exposed
group was relatively higher compared to control group. However the MN frequencies
in all sample group was still in normal range . In this study chronic low radiation
dose exposure in the hospital had no significant effect on chromosome aberration
nor micronuclei. The benefit of the study is to enrich the potential usefulness
of cytogenetic assay providing safety index in medical surveillance programs. The
results suggest that education and retraining of staff concerning radiation safety
guidelines need to be done to maintain the safety aspects of radiation.