3-YEAR SURVEY OF BLOOD LEAD LEVELS IN 8828 TAIWANESE ADULTS

The purpose of this study was to investigate environmental lead exposu re in the general Taiwanese population. A total of 8828 Taiwanese adul ts selected by a multistage sampling method were investigated. Charact eristics of the participants were ascertained by questionnaire and 10 ml venous blood was drawn by public health nurses. The blood specimens were distributed to six laboratories for blood lead level (BLL) measu rement. A quality control program was applied during the analysis of t he BLLs in order to improve precision and accuracy. The arithmetic mea n BLL of the 8828 Taiwanese adults was 7.70 +/- 5.23 mu g/dl, with a m aximal level of 69.1 mu g/dl. The median was 6.5 mu g/dl and the 90th percentile was 14.0 mu/dl. After logarithmic transformation, the geome tric mean was 1.84 +/- 0.67 mu g/dl. This study also found that elevat ed BLLs were associated with certain personal characteristics, i.e., g ender, ethnic group, and education level; life-style factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, Chinese herbal drug consumption, milk co nsumption, and sources of drinking water; residential location, i.e., level of urbanization; and occupational history of lead exposure. Howe ver, age, floor level of residence, distance from house to road, and b etel nut consumption were not associated with elevated BLLs. These res ults showed that BLLs in the Taiwanese population were not higher than those in developed and developing countries. Most of the influencing factors were also found in other studies; however, local factors such as ethnic group, Chinese herbal drug consumption, and sources of drink ing water are important considerations in Taiwan when examining ways t o prevent overexposure to lead in the general population.