oa An Assessment of Chromosomal Damage in Individuals Occupationally Exposed to Domestic Cooking Gas

The lymphocytes of healthy adult men occupationally exposed to Domestic Cooking Gas (DCG) were screened for genotoxic damage using the Cytochalasin Block Micronucleus [cytome] (CBMN) Assay. Results obtained, show that there was a significant increase in the the induction of binucleated micronuclei frequency (BNMN) in subjects exposed to DCG as compared with the non-exposed controls, with a 92 percent increase in the degree of induction. There was a positive correlation between the degree of micronuclei induced and the duration of exposure (r2 = 0.78). A higher proliferation rate (1.58 ± 0.3), as calculated using the Nuclear Division Index (NDI) was found in the exposed group as compared with the control group (1.36 ± 0.05).

The observations above suggests that DCG may induce chromosomal damage and cell proliferation in vivo.