Tóm tắt:

Although lead is one of the most important heavy metal used popular in many industrials, it also a toxic chemical induces a broad range of physiological, biochemical, and genetic dysfunctions. Occupational exposure to lead leads to increased frequency of genetic system in human beings. In the present study the DNA damage among the workers occupationally exposed to lead was analysed using peripheral blood lymphocyte by comet assay. The study population consisted of 70 lead recycling workers exposed to lead in Dong Mai viIlage, Hung Yen province. The control group consisted of 10 office workers with no history of occupational exposure to lead. The concentration of lead (PbB) in blood samples was measured. The DNA damage was analyzed in blood lymphocytes using alkaline comet assay. The level of DNA damage was determined as the percentage of DNA in the tail, tail length and tail olive moment. The result shows that the percentage of DNA in the tail (4.29 +/- 8.75 vs. 1.2 +/- 2.3), comet tail length (4.48 +/- 6.3 vs. 2.16 +/- 3.41) and DNA olive moment (0.5 +/- 1.82 vs. 0.11 +/- 0.18) were significantly higher in the study group when compared with the controls. Blood lead levels were correlated with tail DNA percent and DNA olive moment with p 0.05. But there is no significant between the habit of cigarette smoking among the workers and DNA damage.