Cytogenetic tests performed on operating room personnel (the use of anaesthetic gases)

Abstract

Objectives: Personnel exposure to anaesthetic gases in the health sector, whether in the operating room, recovery room, or in the context of outpatient clinics, may entail a health risk. The goal of this research was to study the cytogenetic effects of chronic exposure to small doses of pollutants in operating theatres.

Methods: Results of cytogenetic analyses [structural chromosomal aberrations (SCAs), sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and micronucleus (MN) test] of anaesthetists and other personnel handling anaesthetic gases, who only occasionally work in zones of ionizing radiation, were compared with results from radiologists, occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation only, and with the results obtained from a group of Slovene citizens who were never exposed to genotoxic agents.

Results: This study involved 153 workers handling anaesthetic gases. The average frequency of SCAs in the group working with anaesthesia was 2.693. The result was statistically significantly higher than in the group of radiologists and Slovene citizens. The frequency of SCE and MN was also statistically significant. A number of authors, who used the same cytogenetic tests, found similar results in the group of anaesthetist.

Conclusion: The results of our study indicate that exposure to anaesthetic gases induced changes in human chromosomes.