Workers in many occupational settings are exposed co toxicchemicals or complex chemical mixtures.Many of these chemicals or theirmetabolites are electrophilic genotoxic agents and potential carcinogenswhich can covalently bind to cellular nucleophiles such as DNA to formDNA adducts.DNA adducts,therefore,indicate that chemicals or theirmetabolites have reached target tissues and reacted with criticalcellular molecules.They can be used to determine the biologicallyeffective dose of exposure,which is more relevant for risk assessmentthan the dose determined by monitoring the occupational environment.Inaddition,the binding of genotoxic agents and potential carcinogens toDNA is generally,considered to be an important early event in theinitiation of chemically induced genetic diseases and cancer.Testsystems such as immunoassay,fluorescence techniques,and (32)~P-postlabeling have been developed for the detection of DNA adducts andapplied in occupational settings.Studies with foundry,coke-oven,androofing
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