Lead in blood and hair of population near an operational and a proposed area for copper mining, Malaysia

Abstract

Lead toxicity is one of the known human health problems. Lead accumulates in biological systems and its mechanism of action is slow. Generally, lead could cause protoplasm poisoning. The toxicity of lead at high levels of exposure is well known, but a major concern of today is the possibility that continual exposure to relatively low level of lead may entail adverse health effects. Lead impairs the renal, hemopoietic and nervous systems and it has been suggested that lead is causally related to deficiency in cognitive functioning. Hair has been used indicator filaments for lead accumulation in human because lead concentration in hair is probably correlated to lead storage in bones. Lead circulates in human body system through the blood circulation. Lead concentration in blood (PbB) is an important parameter in the assessment of lead exposure and its toxicity effects to humans. Blood is a good indicator of the current level of lead in human body but not a good indicator of the total lead body burden. Lead concentration in blood depicts the dynamic equilibrium between exposure level, rates of take, distribution and excretion. In this study the concentration of lead in blood and lead in hair from a selected populationmore » living in the vicinity of a copper mine in Ranau district and population living in the vicinity of a proposed copper mine in Bidu Bidu was measured. The copper mine in Ranau has been operational since 1975. Previous physicochemical studies around the copper mine area reported elevated levels of heavy metals in water, sediment, plants and aquatic organisms samples suggesting a possible contamination due to mining activities, Mokhtar and Hazan reported their preliminary findings of elevated trace metals (including lead) in hair samples of the population living in the vicinity of the copper mine in Ranau. 22 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs.« less