Relationship of air lead and blood lead for workers at an automobile battery factory

Abstract

Air lead and blood lead data, recorded over a period of 3 years for 972 employees at an automobile battery factory as part of a lead control program, were summarized and statistically analyzed. The air lead values were measured by mobile area samplers for approximately 2 years and then by personal samplers for approximately 1 year. Blood lead analyses were usually performed once a month for most of the workers. The trend in air lead levels was significantly upward in the 1st year and significantly downward in the 2nd year while the trend in blood lead levels was significantly downward in the 1st year and in the 3rd year. There were no other significant trends. To assess the relationship between air lead and blood lead, data were used whenever an air lead obtained by personal sampler was followed within 1 month by a blood lead on the same worker. The variables age, job tenure, and department identity were included in an analysis of covariance. Only air lead and departments were significant, accounting for 9% and 13% of the variance in blood lead, respectively. From these data 95% confidence limits were calculated for predicting blood leads from given air leads for an individual worker. These were 30-68 micrograms/100 ml at 200 micrograms/m3, 25-62 micrograms/100 ml at 100 micrograms/m3, and 22-60 micrograms/100 ml at 50 micrograms/m3.

Biomarkers of Lead Exposure.

“…Blood lead (Pb-B), mainly red cell lead, is a representative of soft tissue lead, and most widely used as measures of body burden and absorbed (internal) doses of lead. The relationship between Pb-B and the concentration of lead in exposure sources is curvilinear [10][11][12] . The half-life for lead in blood and other soft tissue is about 28-36 days 13) .…”

Lead exposure during demolition of a steel structure coated with lead-based paints. I. Environmental and biological monitoring.

“…According to Ale ssio & Foa (1) and Coenen & Dr asch e (3) there is a line ar rela tionsh ip in gro ups of wo rk er s for PbA up to 0. 2 mg/m", H o wever, on an individual basis the PbB concentration cannot be derived from PbA con centration (7). Unpublish ed in vest iga tions by us in three lead -battery fac tories suppo rt the latter obser vation .…”

Health hazard evaluation report: HETA-87-371-1986, Technical Assistance to the Jamaican Ministry of Health, Kingston, Jamaica.

“…12 The Jamaican battery workers at the three plants studied had a risk of blood lead levels above 60 ug/dl that was similar to that found at a Korean battery manufacturer. 13 Based on data from a separate NIOSH survey of smaller "backyard" battery repair shops located primarily in residential areas of Kingston, blood lead levels above 25 ug/dl are unusual in adult Jamaicans who are not exposed to battery shops or other unusual sources of exposure. 14 High air lead levels prevailed at all battery manufacturers.…”

“…A comparison of air lead concentrations in various departments at Tropical and Apex, and those reported in other published surveys, show the difficulty in generalizing about high-and low-risk processes in battery manufacturer. 13,15 Furthermore, in small work areas, workers in one department may be exposed to high lead levels generated from nearby processes.…”