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TAILINGS FROM A LEAD MINE AND LEAD LEVELS IN SCHOOLCHILDREN: A PRELIMINARY REPORT
Author(s) -
Heyworth F.,
Spickett J.,
Dick M.,
Margetts B.,
Armstrong B.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1981.tb100932.x
Subject(s) - lead (geology) , tailings , significant difference , blood lead level , zoology , lead poisoning , lead exposure , chemistry , medicine , biology , psychiatry , cats , paleontology
Whole blood lead levels, free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP) concentrations, and hair lead levels were measured in 181 schoolchildren resident in and around the town of Northampton, Western Australia, where tailings from a lead mine have been used extensively for ground surfacing and other purposes. Mean blood lead levels were 0.68 μmol/L (14.0 μg/100 mL) in boys and 0.5 μmol/L (10.4 μg/100 mL) in girls, the highest being 2.27 μmol/L (47 μg/100 mL). Nine children (5%) had blood lead levels above 1.21 μmol/L (25 μg/100 mL) and four had levels above 1.45 μmol/L (30 μg/100 mL). Four of these children had FEP levels above 2.0 μmol/L. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean blood lead levels of children resident in the town (mean blood lead level, 0.63 μmol/L (13.1 μg/100 mL)) compared with those resident out of the town 0.55 μmol/L (11.3 μg/100 mL). The presence of lead tailings in the town may account for the small difference.