Lip lead as an alternative measure for lead exposure assessment of lead battery assembly workers

This study investigated lead exposures of lead battery assembly workers in Taiwan. A special attempt was made to evaluate the use of lip lead as an al ternative index for occupational lead exposure. Ninety-six of 113 workers f rom a lead battery plant were recruited as study subjects. Air lead; lead l oadings on workers' sleeves, gloves, hands, cheeks, and lips, and blood lea d were determined for exposure assessment. A questionnaire also was adminis tered to collect information on work history, suspected exogenous lead sour ces, and personal behavior and activities. Geometric moans of total air lea d at different subareas ranged from 0.070 (2.5 geometric standard deviation [GSD]) to 0.159 (1.8 GSD) mg/m(3). Geometric means of respirable air lead level for different subgroups of workers varied from 0.009 (2.0 GSD) to 0.0 32 (1.9 GSD) mg/m(3), whereas those of the blood lead level ranged from 22. 4 (1.3 GSD) to 44.5 (1.3 GSD) mug/dL. The heaviest lead loadings were found for plate-processing workers (e.g., 66.4 [1.5 GSD] on gloves, 0.80 [3.7 GS D] on cheeks, and 0.79 [3.2 GSD] mug/cm(2)) on bare-hands after washing. Bl ood lead level was significantly correlated with lead levels in air, lead l oadings on lips, and bare hands after washing (r=0.24-0.30). Results of mul tiple regression analysis showed that only lip lead had a significant effec t on the blood lead, whereas respirable air lead and personal behavior had only mild effects in this model. It was concluded that lip lead level may b e used as an alternative index of lead exposure to facilitate the estimatio n of lead uptake through ingestion.