Lead exposure in papier mâché workers

Abstract

<jats:p> Lead exposure was assessed in a random cohort of 70 male papier mâché workers and compared with 35 age and sex matched controls. Blood lead levels in workers were significantly higher than in controls (Mean 68.07 ± 44.64 ug/dl vs 25.52 ± 16.56 ug/dl respectively; P &lt; 0.001). Urinary lead was also higher in workers (128.53 ± 52.61 ug/l) compared to controls (91.18 ± 27.06, P &lt; 0.001), but excretion of urinary coproporphyrin in the two groups was not significantly different (102.78 ± 153.42 vs 70.03 ± 27.06 ug/l, P &gt; 0.05). Blood levels bore a significant correlation with age but did not bear any correlation with the duration of exposure. Various modes of exposure to lead included hand mixing of paints, skin application of the paint to match shades and making point of the brush using lips and the tongue. </jats:p>

Clinical manifestations of lead workers of Mangalore, India

“…The blood lead levels in this study can be compared to two other studies (Kumar and Krishnaswamy, 1995;Wahed et al, 1997) conducted in India, where occupationally exposed male workers were involved, though there is a difference in the selection of workers. In the first study, the blood lead levels among mechanics ranged from 30Á69 mg/dL (Kumar and Krishnaswamy, 1995).…”

“…In the first study, the blood lead levels among mechanics ranged from 30Á69 mg/dL (Kumar and Krishnaswamy, 1995). In the second study, the blood lead levels of papier mache workers were 68.079/44.64 mg/dL, and the controls had a BPb of 25.529/16.56 mg/dL (Wahed et al, 1997).…”

“…One study reports lead toxicity in papier mache workers in Kashmir (Wahed et al, 1997), and some interesting case reports on lead workers have been discussed by others (Mathew et al, 2002;Geraldine, 2003).…”

“…In the past, studies among adults in India focused on leaded gasoline and their effects (Kumar and Krishnaswamy, 1995;Potula and Hu, 1996a;Potula and Hu, 1996b). One study reports lead toxicity in papier mache workers in Kashmir (Wahed et al, 1997), and some interesting case reports on lead workers have been discussed by others (Mathew et al, 2002;Geraldine, 2003).…”

Urinary lead as a possible surrogate of blood lead among workers occupationally exposed to lead

“…In recent studies, authors sometimes measured the two exposure parameters, but they either did not give correlation coecients (e.g. Araki et al 1992;Gerhardsson et al 1993;Roels et al 1994;Wahid et al 1997) or did not describe Pb exposure intensity quantitatively (Sun and Wang 1995). Table 2 summarizes the reports in which both correlation coecients and Pb exposure indicators (e.g., in terms of a Pb-B range) are available (Selander and Cramer 1970;Wang et al 1985;Carton et al 1987;LuÈ dersdorf et al 1987;Markowitz et al 1990;Omkhodion and Howard 1991a, b;Skerfving et al 1993;Hirata et al 1995;Bergdahl et al 1997;BoÈ rjesson et al 1997).…”