Assessment of 222Rn, 226Ra, 238U, 218Po, and 214Po activity concentrations in the blood samples of workers at selected building material factories in Erbil City.

The objective of this research is to assess the impact of radon concentration on workers at certain construction material industries in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The CR-39 solid-state track detector was used in this experiment to monitor radon levels and their daughters. For this purpose, as a case study group, 70 workers were divided into seven subgroups (gypsum, cement plant, lightweight block, marble, red brick 1, crusher stone, and concrete block 2), and 20 healthy volunteers were selected as a control group. The findings demonstrate that the mean concentrations of radon, radium, uranium, and radon daughters deposited on the detector face (POS) and chamber walls (POW) for the case study group were 9.61 ± 1.52 Bq/m3, 0.33 ± 0.05 Bq/Kg, 5.39 ± 0.86 mBq/Kg, 4 ± 0.63, and 16.62 ± 2.64 mBq/m3, whereas for the control group, they were 3.39 ± 0.58 Bq/m3, 0.117 ± 0.03 Bq/Kg, 1.91 ± 0.32 mBq/Kg, 1.41 ± 0.24, and 5.88 ± 1 mBq/m3, respectively. The statistical analysis revealed that radon, radium, uranium, and POW and POS concentrations were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.001) in the samples for the case study groups of cement, lightweight block, red brick 1, marble, and crusher stone factories in comparison to the control group; however, the results for gypsum and concrete block 2 factories were not statistically significant in comparison to the control group. Intriguingly, the radon levels in every blood sample examined were far lower than the 200 Bq/m3 limit established by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Hence, it may be argued that the blood is devoid of contaminants. These results are crucial for determining whether or not an individual is exposed to substantial quantities of radiation and for demonstrating a link between radon, its daughter, uranium, and the prevalence of cancer among workers in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

Natural radioactivity and radiological risk assessment due to building materials commonly used in Erbil city, Kurdistan region, Iraq.

Radiometric monitoring of construction materials is required for estimating the interior and exterior exposure to ionizing radiation emitted by terrestrial radioactive elements in building materials. Using gamma-ray spectroscopy, the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40 K in fifty-two samples from eighteen different building materials commonly used in Erbil city, Kurdistan region, Iraq, were evaluated to assess possible radioactive dangers to human health. The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40 K ranged from 1 ± 0.1 (gypsum board) to 130 ± 11 (granite), 1.3 ± 0.2 (gypsum) to 66 ± 8 (ceramic sample), and 18.74 ± 4 (gypsum) to 1061.708 ± 40 (granite) with an average of 28 ± 5, 20.7 ± 4, and 340.8 ± 18 (average ± standard deviation), respectively. Radiological indicators (activity concentration index, alpha and gamma index, hazard indices, interior absorbed gamma dose rate and the corresponding yearly effective dosage rate, and excess lifetime cancer risk) were computed to assess the health risks associated with these building materials. Consideration was given to the indoor annual effective dosage for common construction materials, the radon surface expiration rate, and the indoor radon concentration. The mean values of activity concentration were then inputted into the RESRAD-BUILD computer software to calculate a resident's long-term radiation exposure. The dosages were measured over a range of 0 to 70 years. From 0 to 30 years, there was a significant change in dosages; however, from 30 to 70 years, the dosages were reasonably consistent. This research demonstrates that granite samples are not safe for dwellings with poor ventilation (especially those without windows). In general, other investigated construction materials in the buildings are deemed safe for the population, since the computed values for these parameters fall within the well-being restrictions or criterion values.

Antitumor activity of lentivirus-mediated interleukin -12 gene modified dendritic cells in human lung cancer in vitro.

OBJECTIVES: Dendritic cell (DC)-based tumor immunotherapy needs an immunogenic tumor associated antigen (TAA) and an effective approach for its presentation to lymphocytes. In this study we explored whether transduction of DCs with lentiviruses (LVs) expressing the human interleukin-12 gene could stimulate antigen- specific cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) against human lung cancer cells in vitro. METHODS: Peripheral blood monocyte- derived DCs were transduced with a lentiviral vector encoding human IL-12 gene (LV-12). The anticipated target of the human IL-12 gene was detected by RT-PCR. The concentration of IL-12 in the culture supernatant of DCs was measured by ELISA.Transduction efficiencies and CD83 phenotypes of DCs were assessed by flow cytometry. DCs were pulsed with tumor antigen of lung cancer cells (DC+Ag) and transduced with LV-12 (DC-LV-12+Ag). Stimulation of T lymphocyte proliferation by DCs and activation of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) stimulated by LV-12 transduced DCs pulsed with tumor antigen against A549 lung cancer cells were assessed with methyl thiazolyltetrazolium (MTT). RESULTS: A recombinant lentivirus expressing the IL-12 gene was successfully constructed. DC transduced with LV-12 produced higher levels of IL-12 and expressed higher levels of CD83 than non-transduced. The DC modified by interleukin -12 gene and pulsed with tumor antigen demonstrated good stimulation of lymphocyte proliferation, induction of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and anti- tumor effects. CONCLUSIONS: Dendritic cells transduced with a lentivirus-mediated interleukin-12 gene have an enhanced ability to kill lung cancer cells through promoting T lymphocyte proliferation and cytotoxicity.