The prevalence of chromosomal aberrations in Argentine air crew members.

The authors analyzed the effects of chronic exposure of Argentine air crew members to low doses of ionizing radiations. Genetic damage induced by either low doses or low rates of ionizing radiation was higher than expected. Seventy-one heparinized blood samples were obtained from technical ground workers (group A; n = 10), pilots of domestic flights (group B; n = 14), pilots of transequatorial flights (group C; n = 17;), pilots of transpolar flights (group D; n = 17) and retired pilots (group E; n = 10) The frequency of dicentric chromosomes was higher in groups B and C compared with groups D and E. These observations suggest that the exposure of the aircraft to ionizing radiations may induce chromosomal aberrations. However, dicentric chromosomes in both domestic and retired pilots are still high compared with dicentric control participants.