[Neurological disorders in workers with low levels of lead in the blood. II--Neuropsychological disorders].
This is a cross-sectional study with a randomized choice of individuals aiming at studying the validity of the Brazilian biological exposure limits applied to lead level in the blood (PbB) and delta-aminolevulinic acid in the urine (ALAU), which are 60 mu/dl and 10 mg/g.creat., respectively. Thus, twenty workers, whose PbB and ALAU values have been below these limits over the past two years, were selected at random at a battery plant in the State of S. Paulo, Brazil. The workers were submitted to a variation of the WHO Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery. The results were compared with those obtained for workers of a control group also chosen at random. The lead workers showed memory, mood and motor coordination disorders. Comparing these results with those obtained from the control group, a significant difference was observed (p-value < 0.02). The results indicate that the Brazilian biological exposure limits above should be reconsidered.
Cordeiro
R
R
Departamento de Saúde Pública da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, SP, Brasil. cordeiro@fmb.unesp.br
Lima Filho
E C
EC
Salgado
P E
PE
Santos
C O
CO
Constantino
L
L
Malatesta
M L
ML
D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000097:blood*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D016273:Occupational Exposure
D007854:Lead