An Investigation of Lead Concentration in the Breathing Air and the Blood of Automobile Welders in Birjand, Iran.
Code: G-12059
Authors: Omolbanin Motamedrezaei, Farnaz Jahani, Hamed Lotfi © ℗
Schedule: Not Scheduled!
Tag: Chemical factors
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Abstract:
Background and Aim
Lead is known as one of the most dangerous toxic metals in the world and its entry into the body can cause acute and chronic intoxication with a wide range of systemic symptoms. Our goal in the current research is to study the level of lead in the breathing zone and blood of the automobile welders in Birjand.
Method
A cross-sectional, descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 47 automobile welders. The criteria for entering the study included, male gender, having at least 1 year of experience in automobile welding, and at least 8 hours of daily employment in welding. The general information required was collected through a questionnaire. At the beginning of the study, in each working environment air samples were taken in accordance with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) method number 7082. The analysis of the air lead concentration was carried out by a flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The blood lead concentration was measured by NIOSH 8003 method via graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Data analysis was done using SPSS software Version 18. The significance threshold was considered less than 0.05.
Results
The data on 47 automobile welders were collected in the time span of September 2018 to March 2019. Based on the data, the welders' mean age was 32.6 ± 8.8 years (range: 17 to 39 years), and the mean welding experience was 11.1 ± 7.6 years (range: 1 to 40 years); 12.8% of the workers were smokers and 66% used appropriate personal protective equipment. The maximum air lead concentration was 0.115 mg/m3, and the mean was 0.0458 ± 0.0296 mg/m3. The maximum blood lead concentration of automobile welders was 28.89 µg/dL, and the mean was 9.89 ± 7.32 μg/dL. Although Pearson correlation coefficient showed a positive correlation between air lead concentrations and blood lead concentrations, this correlation was not statistically significant (p = 0.38, r = 0.18).
Conclusion
The findings of this study showed that the average blood lead concentration in cigarette smokers and those who did not use PPE was higher than other people; besides, it was higher in individuals over the age of 30 than those under this age. The mean blood lead concentration of automobile welders and the mean air lead concentration corresponded to the standards of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).
Keywords
Fume, welding, lead, breathing air, blood
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