A study on lead toxicity among the workers in an unorganized sector of lead-acid battery industry

Abstract

Aims of the study: (1)-To study various manifestations of lead toxicity at different levels of exposure among the Lead-Acid battery workers and (2)-To study various factors contributing to the toxicity of lead among the workers. Results: High amounts of lead were detected in the blood samples of the workers. The commonest lead related symptoms observed among the workers were malaise (32.1%), fatigue (25.9%), arthralgia (20.9%), abdominal colic (16%) and headache (13.6%). Smoking found to be an important contributory factor in the lead related manifestations. An inverse association of practice of hygiene with mean blood lead value was observed among heavily exposed workers. A statistically significant difference was observed between heavily exposed and moderately exposed to lead regarding presence of pallor, malaise symptom, presence of one or more lead related symptoms, blood lead levels, haemoglobin values, etc. Conclusion: A majority of Lead-Acid battery workers (64.19%) were highly exposed to lead by their nature of work. The prevalence of toxicity was more among the heavily exposed than the moderately exposed. Minimizing the exposure during the work is very important factor to protect the health of the workers.

Keywords

• Lead-Acid Battery workers
• Mean lead levels
• Plumbism