Lymphocyte sister chromatid exchange frequency in coke oven workers.

Lymphocyte sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequencies were determined for 12 long-term exposed male coke-oven workers as well as for 12 other age-matched steelworkers with no coke oven work exposure. Both groups were non-smokers and had mean ages of 54.7 and 54.9 years, respectively. The exposed group had a mean of 28.9 years continuous work exposure to the coke oven emissions. SCE frequencies for the exposed individuals ranged from 7.97 to 11.20 SCE’s/cell while the control individual ranged from 6.73 to 10.60 SCE’s/cell. The mean SCE frequency for the exposed group was 9.54 ± S.D. 1.15 SCE’s/cell, and was 14% higher than the 8.35 ± S.D. 1.09 SCE’s/cell of the control group (p=.016). The long-term exposure to coke oven emissions experienced by the coke oven workers may be the explanation for this difference.