INFLUENCE OF FORMALDEHYDE FROM INDOOR DECORATION ON BUCCAL CELLS OF THE RESIDENTS IN WUHAN

摘要

In this study, 60 families in the same community were investigated. Among these families, 30 were decorated within one year while the corresponding ones decorated at least 4 years ago. Buccal cells donated by people available in these families were employed to carry out single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE, Comet assay, for genotoxicity testing). Analysis of the comet images showed that the presenting rate of "comet" as well as the tail moments of the buccal cells' DNA from people living in apartments decorated within a year were obviously higher (P< 0.01) than in those from people who lived in the apartments decorated several years ago, which lends strong support to our conclusion that people living in newly-decorated apartments are much more liable to be harmed by the formaldehyde released from their indoor decoration. In addition, high-quality decoration material tends to be less harmful to people.