Assessment of DNA Damage in Blood of Iraqi Museum Workers

This study was done to evaluate the risk of natural alpha emitter's concentrations in blood of museum employees and any potential DNA damage that may be linked to it. The current research was conducted on employees in State board of antiquities and heritage, Abd alkarim qasim museum and Iraqi museum. Blood samples were collected from 30 participants in employees group and 30 participants in controls group that was collected from general population. Alkaline comet assay has been used to assess DNA damage in lymphocytes of participants. The results showed higher DNA damage and high comet L/W value in employees (1.56) compared with control group (1.1).The smokers have increased average L/W value compared to participants who never smoked in employee group. From this study concluded based on these results, exposure of museum employees and archaeologists to natural ionizing radiation may have increased risk to DNA damage and cancer compared to non-occupational employees.