Cytogenetic findings in persons living near the Love Canal
C. W. Heath Jr, M. R. Nadel, M. M. Zack Jr, A. T. Chen, M. A. Bender and R. J. Preston
Cytogenetic analyses were performed on peripheral blood from 46 present or
past residents of the area surrounding Love Canal, a former dump site for
chemical wastes in Niagara Falls, NY. Participants included 17 persons in
whom cytogenetic analyses had been performed in 1980 and 29 persons who had
been living in 1978 in seven homes that directly adjoined the canal and in
which environmental tests showed elevated levels of chemicals spreading
from the canal. Frequencies of chromosomal aberrations and of sister
chromatid exchange (SCE) did not differ significantly from control levels.
For all participants, cigarette smoking was associated with an increase in
sister chromatid exchange frequency.
