Assessment of lead health hazards in a body shop of an automobile assembly plant.

Abstract

This study of an occupationally lead-exposed group in the automobile assembly industry (body shop employees) has provided information with regard to current and recent lead-exposure levels characteristic for these operations. Comparison with findings in other, previously studied occupational groups (secondary smelter workers) indicated that current and recent lead exposure was significantly lower in the autobody shop employees. Prevalence of symptoms was found to be higher than in a control, non-lead-exposed group of maintenance workers in the same plant, but the differences reached the level of statistical significance only sporadically. Long-term effects on renal function, as reflected in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine levels, were documented to be significant in this group of autobody shop employees. When compared with two secondary lead smelter populations previously studied, correlations between indicators of renal function, BUN and creatinine, and duration of lead exposure were consistently higher in the secondary lead smelter populations than in the group of autobody shop employees, although duration of lead exposure was greater in the latter. These findings are consistent with a dose-response relationship with regard to renal function impairment due to lead absorption. An increased prevalence of hypertension, especially diastolic, was also found, probably the consequence of renal effect.