Study ponders link between smoke, chromosome damage

Saturday, Nov. 11, 2000 | 10:32 a.m.

Casino workers and others exposed to tobacco smoke are inhaling toxins that damage chromosomes, and a University of Nevada Medical School researcher will try to find out in a Las Vegas study whether the smoke increases disease risk.

The project is the first major study of environmental tobacco smoke related to workplace exposure sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

The National Institutes of Health gave the medical school a $2.3 million grant for the four-year study, which is expected to begin in February.

The study will be conducted on nonsmoking casino workers.

Researchers estimate that about 60,000 nonsmoking Americans each year die from diseases such as coronary heart disease, lung cancer, bronchitis and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome from inhaling second-hand smoke, said Chris Pritsos, a University of Nevada, Reno, nutrition professor who will conduct the study.

Anti-oxidant supplements such as vitamins E and C and selenium might reduce the risk from environmental tobacco smoke, Pritsos said.

The 375 volunteers will be split into three groups, one taking low, daily doses of vitamins E, C and selenium, a second group taking moderate levels of the supplements and a third group taking a placebo.

Pritsos will track the level of environmental tobacco smoke exposure and risks to the workers' hearts and lungs through blood tests.

Not all people are affected by second-hand smoke, but there is a segment of sensitive individuals who may be at higher risk from the exposure.

"In no way are we trying to say that if you take anti-oxidants, you'll be OK," Pritsos said.

But the vitamins and selenium in moderate doses may reduce the DNA damage caused by inhaling smoke in the air.

The workers may be at a much higher risk of chronic diseases, cardiovascular troubles or cancer, he said.

"DNA is constantly getting damaged, and it is constantly being repaired," Pritsos said. "But even if 99 percent is OK, when just 1 percent is damaged permanently, the resulting mutations can lead to cancer and other diseases."

In a 1997 study Pritsos discovered that environmental smoke damaged chromosomes.