Cytogenetic Damage of Human Somatic Cells and Weeping Birch Cells in Voronezh Districts with Different Levels of Anthropogenic Pollution

Cytogenetic parameters (the mitotic rate and the frequency of pathological mitoses) of the seed offspring of weeping birch (Betula pendula Roth.) and the frequency of micronuclei in the buccal epithelium of children living in several raions (districts) of the city of Voronezh differing in environmental conditions were studied. Judging from these parameters, the environmental situation was the worst in the Sovetskii raion. A correlation was found between the frequency of pathological mitoses in the roots of birch seedlings and the frequency of micronuclei in the buccal epithelial cells of children. This indicates that the cytogenetic monitoring data obtained in plants may be extrapolated to man.