Assessment of Lead and Arsenic Levels in Human Blood Among Salon Workers

Abstract

Nail polish that we used today may contain the following toxic chemicals like dibutyl phthalate, toluene and formaldehyde as well as traces of heavy metals that may produce toxicity. The study aimed to assess the lead and arsenic levels in human blood among salon workers and to correlate its results to the serious effects of lead and arsenic on human health. The study was carried on human blood samples extracted from 90 respondents’ selected using purposive sampling and identified into three groups: non-nail polish users (NNPU), nail salon workers-non nail polish users (NSW-NNPU) and nail salon workers-nail polish users (NSW-NPU). The human blood samples were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for its lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) content. It was also subjected to complete blood count (CBC) to determine the correlation of haemoglobin level of the respondents with the Pb and As content. Based on analysis performed, the results show that NSW-NNPU were reported to have the highest mean blood concentration of 0.192 ppm (Pb) and 0.354 ppm (As) respectively. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compute the data and the results showed that there is a very significant difference between NNPU versus NSW-NNPU, NNPU versus NSW-NPU and NSW-NNPU versus NSW-NPU with a p-value of <0.01 for lead and arsenic content. On the other hand, there is a very significant difference between the haemoglobin levels of NSW-NNPU with the Pb and As content with the calculated p-value of <0.01 and r-values of -0.793 (Pb) and -0.822 (As).The results revealed that human blood samples from NSW-NNPU were found to contain high levels Pb and As and it has direct impact to the haemoglobin level of the said group which can lead to anemia.