Relationship of biological indices of lead exposure to the health status of workers in a secondary lead smelter

Journal Article · Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1980 · J. Occup. Med.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5004973

Hammond, P B; Lerner, S I; Gartside, P S; Hanenson, I B; Roda, S B; Foulkes, E C; Johnson, D R; Pesce, A J

The fidelity with which common indices of lead exposure correlate with renal and hematopoietic function and with frequency of symptoms was studied. The subjects were men working in a secondary lead smelter. Among several indices of renal function, only serum urea nitrogen (SUN) was consistely correlated with any of the indices of lead exposure. The concentration of lead in blood (PbB), the rate of urinary excretion of lead (PbU) and of delta aminolevulinic acid in the urine (ALAU) correlated with SUN. By contrast, erythrocytic porphyrin concentration (EP) did not correlate with SUN. Similarly, the frequency of occurrence of symptoms correlated well with PbB and ALAU but did not correlate with EP. All of the above indices of lead exposure, with the exception of PbU, correlated well with hemoglobin (Hb) status. In summary, these results suggest that PbB rather than EP is the best single exposure index for biological monitoring of lead workers. This measurement should be supplemented by periodic determination of SUN and Hb.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Cincinnati College of Medicine, OH
• OSTI ID: 5004973
• Journal Information: J. Occup. Med.; (United States), Vol. 22:7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BLOOD
BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS
KIDNEYS
LEAD
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CORRELATIONS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
PERSONNEL
SMELTING
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
DATA
ELEMENTS
FUNCTIONS
INFORMATION
MATERIALS
METALS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANS
560306* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Man- (-1987)