Preliminary indications of blood lead concentrations, among occupationally exposed and non exposed Palestinians
Journal Title: Advances in Environmental Sciences - International Journal of the Bioflux Society - Year 2012, Vol 4, Issue 3
Abstract
Despite the lower rate of exposure to leaded compounds in the past ten years, due to reduced lead petrol concentrations in the ambient air and improvement in environmental control measures, lead poisoning is still an occupational and environmental disease of great concern in public health. The presence of other sources of lead exposure after the ban of leaded gasoline could be a risk factor for elevated blood lead concentrations. In this study blood lead levels (BLL) were screened in both occupationally and non-occupationally exposed groups in the Palestinian Territories by inductive coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (Agilent 7500 ICP-MS). The non-occupationally exposed groups included 18 normal healthy smoker males, 18 non smoker males, and 18 females. Occupationally exposed groups include 25 workers in the assaying and refining of gold and 19 workers in auto-repair garages. Data was analyzed using the statistical computer package (SPSS). Mean blood lead levels of all groups were below the action level according to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (<10 µg/dL). No statistical significant differences were found between workers group and control groups. In the control group, a paired t-test showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between the female group and smoker male group. There was no correlation with age for all groups except the female group and auto-repair workers which showed significant correlation (p<0.05) with both age and years of work. This could be contributed to differences in genetic make-up, chemical exposure history and age related decreased function of the detoxification processes. Since mean BLL(3.66 µg/dL) of the control group was comparable to economically advantaged countries like USA (1.6µg/dL) and those with low mean of (1.96 µg/dL) like Jordan, lead is not considered a major environmental pollutant in Palestine and the screening is recommended only at the workers in tasks involving lead.
Authors and Affiliations
Mutaz Al-Qutob , Tharwat Nashashibi
Keywords
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