title: Lead in saliva and its relationship to blood in the residents of Klity Village in Thailand.
abstract: Lead concentrations in whole blood and saliva were examined in 16 females and 13 males living in Klity village, a highly contaminated area from lead mining, Thailand. The geometric mean for the lead content in the blood was 24.03 microg/dl (range 11.80-46.60 microg/dl) while the lead content in the saliva was 5.69 microg/dl (range 1.82-25.28 microg/dl). No significant differences were found between the concentrations of lead in blood and saliva in relation to the age of the subject. Males were found to have higher blood lead levels than females. The coefficient of correlation gamma between salivary and blood lead levels was -0.025. Our data suggests that saliva is not suitable material for biological monitoring with respect to lead exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. dtstw@mahidol.ac.th
authors.forename: Sroisiri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thaweboon
authors.forename: Boonyanit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thaweboon
authors.forename: Woranut
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Veerapradist
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010949:Plasma / Q000737:chemistry*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D013785:Thailand
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007854:Lead