Formation of risk groups for increased somatic mutagenesis among employees, a nuclear industry enterprise in Obninsk

Somatic mutations are the basis of the development of malignant neoplasms. It can be assumed that the frequency of occurrence of mutant cells and their preservation is an indicator of a predisposition to carcinogenesis. An approach has been developed for the formation of high-risk groups of somatic mutagenesis among nuclear industry workers, based on a statistical analysis of the frequency of TCR-mutant lymphocytes in human peripheral blood. The statistical analysis is based on the weighted least squares method. The criterion for including a specific person in the risk group is the frequency of mutant cells, which exceeds the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval calculated individually for each person, bearing in mind age, smoking factor and individual radiation dose. The approach was tested with data from measurements of the frequency of mutant cells in 339 male employees of the A.I. Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering (Obninsk), one of the oldest enterprises in the Russian nuclear industry. On average, for the entire studied group of workers, there was a statistically significant increase in the frequency of TCR-mutant cells with an increase in the average annual accumulated radiation dose. High-risk groups were formed among the surveyed employees. Among them 339 individuals surveyed, the risk group includes 23.6% of employees.