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Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 237-243, 2002
© 2002 British Occupational Hygiene Society
Published by Oxford University Press

Article

Effect on Blood Lead of Airborne Lead Particles Characterized by Size

DONG-UK PARK1,* and NAM-WON PAIK2

1Department of Environmental Health, Korea National Open University, 169 Dongsung-Dong, Chongro-Ku, Seoul 110-791, Korea; 2Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, 28 Yunkeun-Dong, Chongro-Ku, Seoul 110-799, Korea

Received 21 August 2000; ; in final form 4 December 2001;

Worker exposure to airborne lead particles was evaluated for a total of 117 workers in 12 workplaces of four different industrial types in Korea. The particle sizes were measured using 8-stage cascade impactors worn by the workers. Mass median aerodynamic diameters (MMAD) were determined by type of industry and percentage of lead particles as a fraction of airborne lead (PbA) concentration was determined by particle size. Blood lead (PbB) levels of workers who matched airborne lead samples were also examined. A Scheffé’s pairwise comparison test showed that MMAD and the fractions of each of respirable particles and lead particles <=1 µm relative to PbA varied greatly by the type of industry. The concentrations of lead particles <=1 µm, which the Center for Policy Alternatives model assumes is relatively constant at 12.5 µg/m3, increased with increasing PbA concentration. In addition, a better correlation was detected between concentrations of particles <=1 µm and concentrations of respirable lead particles (r = 0.82) than that between concentrations of small particles and PbA (r = 0.61). A simple linear regression indicated that PbB correlated better with respirable lead concentration (r2 = 0.35, P = 0.0001) than with PbA concentration and had a higher slope coefficient. Controlling for respirable lead concentration reduced the partial correlation coefficient between PbA concentration and PbB level from 0.56 to 0.20 (P = 0.053). The results indicate that the contribution of respirable lead particles to lead absorption would be greater than that of PbA. This study concludes that the measurement of PbA only may not properly reflect a worker’s exposure to lead particles with diverse characteristics. For the evaluation of a worker’s exposure to various types of lead particles, it is recommended that respirable lead particles as well as PbA be measured.

Keywords: lead particles; size distributions; lead standard; blood lead


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