Cytogenetic effects of tritium incorporated into DNA of human lymphocytes

The number of chromosomal and chromatid breaks, deletions, as well as fragments, have been followed in correlation to the physical dose as assessed by the specific radioactivity of DNA. Human lymphocytes from adult donors were incubated for 44 hours in media supplemented with tritiated thymidine. An uneven distribution of labelling in the cell population has been found and about 50% of the population of cells remained unlabelled. The dose-response curve was flat reflecting loss of damaged cells and/or repair of damage. The dose-response curve showed that at the experimental conditions used the dose of 100 mGy absorbed from incorporated tritium caused about 0.1 deletions per. cell. Doubling the number of deletions to about 0.2 per cell required approximately a five times higher absorbed dose.