Chromosome damage in regions with different levels of air pollution

Air pollution is an important environmental factor influencing human health. In this study, we compared chromosome damage in city policemen from three cities in the Czech Republic: industrial Ostrava characterized by high levels of benzo[a]pyrene, Prague with heavy traffic emitting nitrogen oxides, and relatively clean Ceske Budejovice located in an area with predominantly agricultural activity. Chromosomal aberrations in lymphocytes were evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization with painting probes for chromosomes 1, 2, 3, and 4 in spring and autumn. An increase in the frequency of unstable chromosome aberrations, that is, dicentric chromosomes and acentric fragments, was observed in spring samples from Ostrava (p = .014 and p = .044, respectively) and Prague (p = .002 and p = .006, respectively) in comparison with Ceske Budejovice. The difference was significant only for samples taken after the winter period, when the concentration of pollutants in the air increases due to poor dispersion conditions. An increased frequency of dicentric chromosomes was observed in spring compared to autumn in both Ostrava and Prague (p = .017 and p = .023, respectively), but not in Ceske Budejovice. More breakpoints were observed on chromosome 1 than on the other chromosomes examined (p < .001). The number of breakpoints in the heterochromatin region 1p11-q12 was lower than in other parts of chromosome 1 (p < .001), suggesting a protective function of heterochromatin against damage. Our study showed, that air pollution increased the frequency of unstable chromosome aberrations, especially dicentric chromosomes. However, we did not show an effect on stable chromosome rearrangements.