AJANTA HALDER. MANISHA DE AND MADHUSNATA DE
Abstract
Recently crystalline Silica has been classified as a human carcinogen by Intemational Agency for Research on Cancer (I A RC, 1997). We used the micronucleus (MN) test to determine the genetic damage caused by silica. A plot study was undertaken to evaluate micronudei (MN) frequency in buccal smears of a group of 45 females workers occupationally exposed to silica small Alines and Stone quarries of Seuri, West Bengal (latitude- 23.5499 and longitude- 87.34°E) were the habitual working places of these subjects of study. Average micronucleus frequencies were increased in high-exposure group as compared to normal control. The results indicate that the workers of Sion chronically exposed to silica reveal evidence of genotoxicity in epithelial cell type; higher levels of MN were obsenwd in buccal cell.