Cytogenetic Damage in Operating Room Nurses Exposed to Anesthetic Gases

Background: Although eliminated rapidly from the body due to low solubility in blood and tissues, anesthetic gases have been reported to be neurotoxic, teratogenic and carcinogenic. Genetic material has been shown to be a sensitive target of numerous harmful agents. Aim of the Work: To evaluate genotoxic risk of occupational exposure to anesthetic gases in a group of operating room nurses. Subjects and Methods: A group of 27 operating room nurses exposed to waste anesthetic gases and 18 control nurses were examined for chromosome aberrations and sister chromatid exchanges in peripheral blood lymphocytes. The exposed group was compared with the control group which was matched by age, socioeconomic level and duration of employment. Results: The prevalence of all neurological manifestations were higher in exposed nurses compared to control group. A significant increase in chromosome damage in exposed nurses as detected by total chromosomal aberrations, gaps, deletion and endomitosis while the increase in centromere separation and chromatid breaks was not significant. There was an increase in sister chromatid exchange frequency in exposed nurses compared to control even it was not significant. Most of these parameters of genetic damage in exposed nurses were positively correlated with age and duration of exposure to inhaled anesthetics. Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that exposure to waste anesthetic gases has the potential to cause changes in human genome which may lead to increased morbidity.