Environmental exposure to lead and arsenic among children living near a glassworks

Summary, in English

Concentrations of lead (Pb) in blood (B-Pb, geometric mean 34.6 micrograms l-1, n = 127) and inorganic arsenic (As) and its metabolites in urine (U-As, mean 5.1 micrograms/g creatinine, n = 35) did not differ between children living in a village close to a glassworks emitting both Pb and As and children living in a reference area. There was no significant effect on B-Pb and U-As related to parents working at the glassworks or consumption of domestically grown vegetables. Neither was there any significant effect upon B-Pb of sex, age, potentially lead-exposing hobbies, or consumption of canned foods. Boys had higher U-As than girls (5.8 vs 4.2 micrograms/g creatinine, p = 0.005), and there was a decrease with age (range 8.4-10.4 years, 27% per year, p = 0.01). Further, parental smoking habits had a significant effect on both B-Pb and U-As. In children of non-smoking parents the B-Pb was 30 micrograms l-1, in children with one parent who smoked 39 micrograms l-1 (smoking father 37, smoking mother 41 micrograms l-1) and in children with two parents who smoked 47 micrograms l-1 (p less than 0.001). The corresponding values for U-As were 4.2, 5.5, and 13 micrograms/g creatinine, respectively (p = 0.01).

• Author: P Andren; A Schütz; M Vahter; R Attewell; L Johansson; Stefan Willers; Staffan Skerfving
• Department/s: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University
• Publishing year: 1988
• Language: English
• Pages: 25-34
• Publication/Series: Science of the Total Environment
• Volume: 77
• Issue: 1
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(88)90311-7
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Topic: Environmental Sciences
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1879-1026