Field evaluation of a portable blood lead analyzer in workers living at a high altitude: a follow-up investigation.
Authors
Taylor-L; Ashley-K; Jones-R; Deddens-J
Source
American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 8-13, 2004, Atlanta, Georgia. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2004 May; :88
Abstract
This study further evaluated an electroanalytical field-portable instrument which rapidly analyzes venous blood lead levels in individuals. The instrument, which employs anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) to measure lead in blood, was used on blood samples from an Andean worker population (almost entirely male) at an elevation of approximately 3800 meters in Peru. The portable ASV instrument was evaluated utilizing paired samples from 243 employee volunteers. Each worker donated two venous blood samples, one of which was analyzed by the ASV device, and the other by a reference analytical method, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). Hemoglobin levels of the workers’ blood samples were also measured. According to the GFAAS results, the mean blood lead concentration measured was 46( +/- 16) ug/dL; this was significantly greater than the mean ASV measurement of 32( +/- 11) ug/dL (paired t-test; p<0.0001). The accuracy of the ASV estimation decreased as the measured blood lead concentration increased. The mean hemoglobin concentration in this Andean worker cohort was 17.3 g/dL, which contrasts with the mean hemoglobin level of 15.3 g/dL in U.S. males living near sea level. Hemoglobin levels were unrelated to blood lead concentrations (r2 = 0.00905; p = 0.143). The ASV evaluation results from this investigation, which was carried out at a very high elevation, were significantly different from the previous study, which was conducted near sea level. The exact causes for the discrepancies between the portable ASV results from the two studies are unclear, but are thought to be related to differences in blood chemistry between the Midwestern United States and Peruvian Andes worker cohorts. Analytical results from portable ASV measurement of blood lead levels in extremely high-altitude populations should be treated with caution.
Keywords
Lead-compounds; Blood-analysis; Altitude; Workers; Worker-health; Blood-samples; Analytical-methods; Demographic-characteristics
NIOSH Division
DART; DSHEFS
Priority Area
Research Tools and Approaches: Exposure Assessment Methods
Source Name
American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 8-13, 2004, Atlanta, Georgia
