Commentary and Review Series 1-94
The current applicability of large scale biomarker programs to monitor cleanup workers
Mendelsohn MLIn: Biomarkers and Occupational Health: Progress and Perspectives. Ed by Mendelsohn ML, Peeters JP, Normandy MJ. Washington, DC, Joseph Henry Press, 1995. pp 9-19
Summary
The atom-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are in many ways an ideal population for evaluating the application of biomarkers, or, as a more preferable term in this context, biological dosimeters. The survivors were exposed acutely to ionizing radiation in 1945 and have been studied intensively for health effects throughout the intervening 48 years. Chromosomal aberrations, the classical dosimeter of radiation effect, have been measured for decades, and in recent years, almost a half-dozen mutational dosimeters have been used as well. This population has probably been better studied from this point of view than any other in the world.
The atom-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are in many ways an ideal population for evaluating the application of biomarkers, or, as a more preferable term in this context, biological dosimeters. The survivors were exposed acutely to ionizing radiation in 1945 and have been studied intensively for health effects throughout the intervening 48 years. Chromosomal aberrations, the classical dosimeter of radiation effect, have been measured for decades, and in recent years, almost a half-dozen mutational dosimeters have been used as well. This population has probably been better studied from this point of view than any other in the world.