Assessment of Ionizing Radiation Effects on the Hematological Parameters of Radiation-Exposed Workers

Long-term exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation may adversely affect human cells and tissues of hospital radiation workers, especially peripheral blood cell
count. Blood cell count analysis is a useful screening test in a routine medical checkup. A high or low blood cells count even in a healthy-looking subject leads to
the suspicion of disease and it should prompt further investigations. This study was aimed to assess the effects of ionizing radiation on the hematological parameters of
radiation workers at several governmental hospitals in Indonesia and correlation
between years of employment and equivalent dose on one hand and the
hematological parameters on the other. It included 74 medical radiation workers occupationally exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation at the Unit of Radiology
and Radiotherapy and 83 controls. Fourteen hematological parameters were measured by ABX Micros 60 Hematology analyzer and the correlation between years of employment and equivalent dose as well as hematological parameters on
radiation-exposed workers were tested by linear regression analysis test. Our study reported that red blood cell and monocyte counts were significantly higher in radiation-exposed workers compared to controls, whereas white blood cells, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, and lymphocytes values were significantly lower in radiation-exposed workers. A significant correlation was observed between
equivalent dose and red blood cells (RBCs) parameter (P=0.001) with a decline in RBC level of 0.541×106
/µL per 1 mSv increase of radiation dose. The present study
recommends that further studies should use a larger sample size and include various independent variables (genetic polymorphism, chromosome aberration, micronucleus frequency) to study the long-term effects of low-dose radiation exposure on radiation-exposed workers.