Ethnobotanical Leaflets 12: 524-31.
2008. Biological Monitoring and Chromosomal Aberration of
Workers in Rubber Industry Indra, M.
and Bhuvaneshwari, V. Department of Biochemistry, Issued Abstract The
genotoxic and biochemical characteristic effect of
environmental pollutants generated in a rubber tyre
industry workers was investigated on biochemical characteristic of 15 workers
exposed for different periods and compared with an equal number of unexposed
controls matched in respect of age, sex, social status, period of exposures,
smoking habits and drug intake, if any. Chromosomal aberrations (CA),
hematological parameters, selected bio-chemical parameters and enzymic antioxidants were analysed . All the
parameters showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in the exposed sample
compared with controls The environmental pollutants generated in rubber
industry were thus found to be genotoxic and
tobacco smoke was found to enhance the genotoxic
effect Key Words: Biomonitoring, Chromosomal aberration, Rubber industry. Introduction Exposure in the rubber industry are multitudinous and have given rise to several occupational health concerns, among others, cancer, cardiovascular disease hypertension, nervous system dysfunction and reproductive disorders .Most of the epidemiological studies conducted so far have focused on the cancer risk in this industry. Detection of hazardous environmental agents and measurement of early biological responses in individuals exposed to such agents are among the major goals of today’s preventive toxicology. Cytogenetic techniques used to study chromosomes of somatic cells offer, in theory, an out standing possibility of detecting genetic damage induced by exogenous agents Increasing number of substances used in the synthesis of polymers and in the manufacture of goods are being added to the environment. The rubber industry is known to use a large and expanding array of chemicals some of which are experimentally proven mutagens and carcinogens. Rubber products vulcanized at high temperature and pressure emit biologically active chemical agents. Several of them are known to be suspected mutagens and carcinogens (Falck 1983). In epidemiolgical studies it has been proven that workers in rubber industry may have an increased cancer risk (Lemen et al. 1990; Matanoski et al 1990). Derivatives of styrene, butadiene and rubber are carcinogenic in animal studies (Huff et al. 1985; IPCS 1983) and mutagenic in vitro and in vivo systems (IPCS 1983; Cunningham et al. 1986; Geravasi et al. 1985; Rosenthal 1985; Tice et al. 1987). They induced sister-chromatid exchanges (SCE) and chromosomal aberrations whereas several studies showed an increase in the frequencies of CA of workers from rubber industry (Anderson et al. 1980; Cammuri etal. 1983; Sorsa et al. 1983) others did not find any increase (Degrassi et al. 1984). To resolve this confusion, workers from a rubber tyre industry were investigated for cytogenetic damage, haematological and biochemical changes due to work place pollutants. Materials and Methods: Selection
and grouping of the participants The present investigation
included 15 individual who all worked in tyre
industry and were mainly exposed to a variety of chemicals. Data
recording The workers were selected based on the following criteria 1. They should have been employed full time, working 7 to 9 hours per day with a work experience of not less than five years. 2. They should have no previous exposure to any other pollutants. 3. They should not be chronically suffering from any other major complications. 4. They should not be smokers. Fifteen healthy volunteers in the age group of 20-50 years not exposed to any toxic industrial pollutants were selected and this served as control. Collection
of blood samples and separation of serum Five ml of venous blood was collected from each participant and transferred into EDTA coated tubes (Sharma and Awasthi, 2001). Eight ml of venous blood was collected from both the experimental and control group after overnight fasting and transferred to sterilized vial. The blood was then centrifuged at 3,500rpm for half an hour to obtain the serum. Analysis of hematological parameters The
EDTA blood samples were used for analyzing Haemoglobin
(Hb) ,Red blood cell
count, ( Analysis of other selected
bio-chemical parameters The
triglyceride, total cholesterol, Assay of Enzymic
antioxidants Antioxidants
protect the body from damage caused by free radicals. Many experts believe
that this damage is a factor in the development of blood vessel disease,
cancer and other condition (Husney 2005) the superoxidedismutase activity was determined by the method
Kakkar et al (1984), the activity of catalase was measured by Luck (1974), Glutathione peroxidase was estimated by Rotruck
et al. (1973) Screening
for chromosomal aberration in peripheral lymphocytes of rubber industry
workers Heparinised blood samples were collected under aseptic condition from control group (n=5) rubber industry workers (n=5), the blood samples were used for the lymphocytes culture to study frequencies of chromosomal aberration in the selected subjects. Statistical Analysis Analysis of variance was followed to compare the results obtained for various estimations carried out in experimental and control subjects. Results and Discussion The results obtained for the selected haematological parameters in rubber industry workers are
shown in Table 1. It is evident that there was a significantly decreased level of Hb, The loss in serum protein in experimental group participants might be the consequence of liver and kidney damage as a result of exposure to toxicants. The high level of serum zinc in rubber industry workers might be due to the usage of zinc and other heavy metals for the purpose of coating. Excess zinc and other heavy metals might cause neurodegenerative diseases and in due course toxic responses in the body (Ravid and Rao 2006). As shown in Table 5, the serum levels of the three enzymic antioxidants namely SOD, Conclusion From the results obtained in the preset study, it can be concluded that the occupational exposure to different chemical compounds, fumes and gases in the rubber industry causes changes in the hematological and biochemical parameters in the industry workers. The genotoxic study showed that the rubber industry workers are at a high risk of developing cancer. Acknowledgements We would
like to thank the employers and employees in the rubber manufacturing
industry for the close cooperation in this study. We also would like to
acknowledge Mrs. Bhuvaneshwari Reader, Dept of
Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Table 1: Mean level
of haemoglobin red blood cell count, white blood
cell count and Erythrocyte sedimentation
rate for the selected rubber industry workers.
Table 2: Mean levels of
Triglycerides, total cholesterol, the
selected rubber industry workers.
Table 3: Mean levels of selected serum enzymes in rubber industry
workers.
Table 4: Mean levels of Serum Protein ,Lead
and Zinc in rubber industry workers.
Table 5: Mean levels of
Serum Superoxide dismutase,
Catalase, Glutathione peroxidase
in rubber
industry workers.
Table 6: Mean frequency of Chromosomal aberration in rubber industry
workers.
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