EFFECT OF PERSONAL HYGIENE ON BLOOD LEAD LEVELS OF WORKERS AT A LEAD PROCESSING FACILITY

The relationship between personal hygiene and blood lead levels was te sted at a lead processing facility. During the workers' semiannual res pirator fit test, when they were confident their hands were clean, the amount of lead on their right hands was measured. Samples were obtain ed by cleaning one entire hand with a wiping towel treated with a prop rietary mixture of alcohol, surfactants, and ethylenediaminetetraaceti c acid. Wipe samples were analyzed for total lead and then compared wi th the worker's blood lead level. Each worker's personal habits at res t were also observed. Workers with more than 1 year's experience had a significantly positive correlation between lead on the hand tested an d their blood level. The study strongly suggests that lead on the skin ultimately enters the bloodstream. The route of entry was not investi gated. Personal habits of the workers with high blood lead levels were observed to include actions that would quickly contaminate their hand s shortly after washing.