Effect of prolonged and chronic occupational exposure to lead (Pb) poison metal on anterior segments of the eye

Abstract

Background: Lead is a naturally occurring toxic metal found in the earth's crust. Its widespread use has resulted in extensive environmental contamination, human exposure, and significant public health problems in many parts of the world. Aim: This study aimed to assess the effect of prolonged occupational lead exposure and the outer eye abnormalities among workers of military industrial factory as well as to assess the knowledge and practice of the workers toward lead exposure and hazards of lead poisoning. Materials and Methods: This is a comparative cross-sectional study of 100 workers selected randomly from the lead factory, and their ages ranged from 21 to 67 years, with a mean age of 39.1 ± 10.3 years. They were divided into two groups according to their duration of work (duration of exposure) group of short duration ( Results: The finding revealed that 8% of the workers of long duration had VA Conclusion: Lead poison has a great effect on vision and eye health of the workers, its lead to decrease of vision result in development amblyopia, it also has influence on ocular media and causes severe allergic reaction Thus, all the workers in this field should wear the protection tools provided in the factory, and there is a critical need for examining their ocular health annually.