141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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285477
Lymphocyte chromosome aberration assay for radiation dose assessment at the Nebraska public health laboratory


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Mark Theis, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
The study is intended to establish the capability to perform lymphocyte chromosome aberration assays for radiation dose assessment at the NPHL. A small quantity of donated whole blood from human volunteers will be irradiated using the Co-60 teletherapy unit. The quantity of radiation delivered to the blood will induce morphological aberrations in lymphocyte chromosomes. Cytogeneticists with the Munroe-Meyer Institute on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus will perform an analysis of the irradiated blood and quantify the number of dicentric aberrations. The number of observed dicentric aberrations is proportional to the radiation dose. The study would provide data for the construction of a calibration curve for Co-60. The completed Co-60 calibration curve is the first step in a larger proposition that would permit NPHL to perform dicentric chromosome aberration assays, long considered to be the "gold standard" in radiation dose assessment, to estimate the radiation dose of accidentally exposed individuals.

Learning Areas:

Basic medical science applied in public health
Environmental health sciences
Occupational health and safety
Public health biology
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines

Learning Objectives:
Analyze the effects of gamma irradiation on human blood which will permit the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory to estimate the radiation doses to accidentally exposed persons through the use of lymphocyte chromosome aberration assays.

Keyword(s): Radiation, Assessments

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the sole author and PI of the study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2073.0: Poster Session: Chemicals and Toxic Substances