background: fluoride is used increasingly in a variety of industries in india. emission of fluoride dust and fumes from the smelters of primary aluminum producing industries is dissipated in the work environment and poses occupational health hazards. objective: to study the prevalence of health complaints and its association with fluoride level in body fluids of smelter workers in a primary alu...

Surroundings of the Legnica Cu smelter (Poland) offer insight into the behavior of Pb and other metal(oid)s in heavily contaminated soils in a relatively simple site, where lithogenic and anthropogenic Pb contributions have uniform Pb isotope composition over the time of smelter activity. Distribution of metal(oid)s decreases asymptotically with depth and below 30 cm reaches concentrations typi...

Dated sediment cores from four remote Canadian Shield headwater lakes, where atmospheric deposition has been the only input of anthropogenic Pb, situated along a transect extending 300 km from a nonferrous metal smelter, were analyzed for both lead concentrations and isotopic composition; porewater samples collected at the same sites were analyzed for Pb and other geochemical variables. The dep...

BACKGROUND To determine patterns of childhood lead exposure in a community living near a lead and zinc smelter in North Lake Macquarie, Australia between 1991 and 2002. METHODS An analysis of serial blood lead levels (BLL) of children less than 13 years of age in North Lake Macquarie participating in voluntary blood lead screening. Distance to the smelter and soil lead concentration of the ch...

Little is known about the health-related quality of life of former lead workers. Using the Short-Form 36 Questionnaire (SF-36), a cross-section design study evaluated the health-related quality of life of 186 former workers of a lead smelter that operated in Santo Amaro da Purificação, Brazil, from 1960 to 1993, when it closed down. The smelter had very poor occupational and environmental hygie...

Surface soil samples were collected from Sarcheshmeh Copper Smelter Plant and analyzed for 16 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/furans (PCDD/Fs), and heavy metals to determine their concentrations, distributions, and probable sources of contamination. The mean concentrations of ΣPAHs, As, Pb, Zn, Se, Cd, and Cr in the soil samples were 878.8, 850, 2185, 2...

Pope et al. (2007) found lowered monthly mortality rates during a 1967–1968 copper smelter strike, coincident with and attributed to widespread reduced airborne sulfate levels. The authors cited three “intervention” studies associating particulate emissions reductions with mortality reductions as supportive. Evidence below suggests that mortality reductions in the study by Pope et al. and “inte...

Pope et al. (2007) found lowered monthly mortality rates during a 1967–1968 copper smelter strike, coincident with and attributed to widespread reduced airborne sulfate levels. The authors cited three “intervention” studies associating particulate emissions reductions with mortality reductions as supportive. Evidence below suggests that mortality reductions in the study by Pope et al. and “inte...

Ecological parameters (soil invertebrates, microbial activity, and plant community) were assessed in a metal contaminated site in an abandoned lead smelter and non-contaminated reference sites, as part of an ecological risk assessment (ERA). Vegetation cover inside the smelter area was lower and presented a more homogenous species composition than outside. A more simplified and less abundant ve...

A medical cross-sectional examination of a copper smelter work force was undertaken after environmental contamination with lead, cadmium and arsenic had been documented. A total of 920 subjects was examined, including active smelter employees, retired workers and copper mine employees who had never worked in the smelter. Slight to moderate absorption of lead and cadmium was definitely present i...