This paper discusses the problem of assessing the negative after-effects of low doses of ionising radiation exposure in humans. Radon and its decay daughter products are the most widespread source of such irradiation. Miners (in both uranium and non-uranium mines) as well as laypeople in domestic life may be exposed to radon, making the problem of assessing the cytogenetic effects of exposure extremely crucial. One of the more promising test systems to assess the effect of radon is the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN) on peripheral blood lymphocytes, which has a number of advantages over other cytogenetic techniques. Recent progress and future prospects of this cytogenetic method are discussed here.
Open Journal of Genetics, 2014, 4, 1-7

Estimating the effects of small doses of ionising radiation on DNA is one of the most important problems in modern biology. Different cytogenetic methods exist to analyse DNA damage; the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN) for human peripheral blood lymphocytes is a simple, cheap and informative cytogenetic method that can be used to detect genotoxic-related markers. With respect to previous studies on radiationinduced genotoxicity, children are a poorly studied group, as evidenced by the few publications in this area. In this study, we assessed radon genotoxic effects by counting micronuclei (MN), nucleoplasmic bridges (NPBs)and nuclear buds (NBUDs) in the lymphocytes of children who are long-term residents from areas with high radon concentrations. In the exposed group, radon was found to cause significant cytogenetic alterations. We propose that this method can be employed for biomonitoring to screen for a variety of measures.
Journal of Radiation Research, 2014, 55, 61–66