Radon concentration and related employees’ chromosome aberration and micronuclei in subways in a city of Zhejiang Province

Zhiqiang XUAN; Xinyu HUANG; Zhongjun LAI; Jiadi GUO; Xiaoji HAO; Shunfei YU; Yiyao CAO; Donghang WANG; Duo ZHANG; Jihua NIE

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Radon concentration and related employees’ chromosome aberration and micronuclei in subways in a city of Zhejiang Province

VernacularTitle:浙江省某市地铁氡浓度监测及其对相关工作人员染色体畸变和微核的影响
Author: Zhiqiang XUAN ¹ ; Xinyu HUANG ² ; Zhongjun LAI ¹ ; Jiadi GUO ¹ ; Xiaoji HAO ¹ ; Shunfei YU ¹ ; Yiyao CAO ¹ ; Donghang WANG ¹ ; Duo ZHANG ³ ; Jihua NIE ²
Author Information

1. Occupational Health and Radiation Protection Institute, Zhejiang Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310051, China.
2. School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215000, China.
3. China Railway Design Corporation, Tianjin 300143, China.
Publication Type:Investigation
Keywords: radon; subway; monitoring; chromosome aberration; micronuclei; influencing factor
From: Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine 2024;41(9):1025-1031
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: Background Excessive radon exposure is considered the second risk factor for lung cancer. Since the opening of the subway in a city of Zhejiang Province, the exposure level of radioactive gas radon in subway stations and its impact on occupational health have become one of the important issues of public concern. Objective To monitor the radon concentration of subways in a city in Zhejiang Province and explore the effect of radon exposure on chromosome aberration and micronuclei in the working population. Methods A total of 55 vehicle control rooms of 55 stations affiliated to two different subway lines in a city were measured for one year; the 110 ticket offices and 55 security checkpoints from the same 55 stations were measured from 16 March to 14 June. The radon concentrations were compared by job types, subway lines, and seasons referring to Measurement methods for determination of radon in environmental air (HJ 1212-2021). Peripheral blood lymphocyte chromosome aberration and micronucleus analyses were conducted in 165 subway workers from monitoring sites for three different job types, then the influencing factors were analyzed. The detection methods were adopted from the standards of Test and assessment of chromosomal aberrations on occupational health examinations for radiation workers (GBZ/T 248-2014) and Standard for the method of micronucleus detection in lymphocytes on occupational health examination for radiation workers and exposure dose estimation (GBZ/T 328-2023). Results The radon concentration range of the target subways in Zhejiang Province was 10-320 Bq·m⁻³, all lower than the national limit (≤400 Bq·m⁻³). The differences in radon radioactivity levels among different lines, job types, and time segments were statistically significant (P<0.05). The rates of chromosomal aberration and micronucleus formation among the 165 subjects were 0.224% and 0.024%, respectively. There were significant differences in the rates of chromosome aberration and micronuclei among different jobs (vehicle control room, ticket office, security checkpoint) (P<0.05), but the abnormal rates were lower than the limits of the corresponding national standard. No significant correlation was found between jobs and chromosomal aberrations or micronuclei (P>0.05). Chromosome aberration and micronuclei varied by age, subway station seniority, and smoking (P<0.05). No effect of the above factors on chromosome aberration and micronuclei was observed by logistic regression (P>0.05). Conclusion The radon concentration in the target subway system is at a normal level. The rates of chromosomal aberration and micronucleus formation vary by jobs, but both are lower than the corresponding national limits. Therefore, radon exposure has not yet caused outstanding health impact on the subway workers.