LEAD TOXICITY IN EMPLOYEES OF A PAINT FACTORY

Lead-based paint is an important cause of lead poisoning. This report describes our observation of excessive lead absorption among employees in a paint factory in which lead naphthenate and lead oxalate were used as drying agents in paint. In this study, blood levels of lead were compared between nineteen paint factory employees and twenty normal controls. The nineteen paint factory employees had a mean blood lead concentration of 50.71 µg/dL which was significantly (P<0.01) higher than that of controls (20.44 µg/dL). There was a good correlation between blood lead levels and job tenures of the employees [r= 0.55, confidence= 95% (0.13-0.81)]. Lumbar pain (47.37%), abdominal pain (42.1% ), renal complications (21 %), anxiety (39.1 %), nervousness (52.63%), headache (42.4%), peripheral pain (36.8%) and anemia (10.5%) were the chief complaints of these employees. The use of lead naphthenate and lead oxalate in paint is clearly associated with excessive air-borne exposure to lead. Technical and medical protective control of occupational exposures is needed in paint industries.