Blood lead and cadmium levels in a six hospital employee population. PESA study, 2009.
BACKGROUND
Exposure to lead and cadmium is a public health problem due to the broad exposure to these toxic substances among the general population. The objective of this study is to determine blood lead and cadmium concentrations in a working population drawn from six university hospitals in Madrid, Getafe, Cartagena, Santiago de Compostela, Santander and Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and to identify associated factors.


METHODS
951 individuals participated in the study and were administered the standardized PESA® questionnaire regarding exposure to lead and cadmium. The blood lead and cadmium concentrations were measured by electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction in Perkin-Elmer spectrometers, guaranteeing the transferability of the results.


RESULTS
The median overall blood lead concentration was: 1.6 μg/dL (IQR: 0.9-2.7) and that of cadmium was: 0.21 μg/L (IQR: 0.10-0.50). There were significant differences in lead levels between men (2 μg/dL) and women (1.5 μg/dL), postmenopausal (2.6 μg/dL) and premenopausal women (1.1 μg/dL), and between participants who cooked in earthenware (2.1 μg/dL) and those who did not (1.5 μg/dL). The median of cadmium in women (0.24 μg/L) was higher than in men (0.11 μg/L) and was also higher in subjects who smoked (0.70 μg/L) than in non-smokers (0.13 μg/L).


CONCLUSIONS
A reduction in blood lead and cadmium levels was observed with respect to previous studies carried out in Spain. Nevertheless, the results suggest there are certain factors which increase risk such as age, gender, menopause, age of housing, cooking in lead-glazed earthenware and exposure to cigarette smoke.
Department of Laboratory Medicine of Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain. montse@cmpx.net
Montserrat
M
González-Estecha
Elena
E
Trasobares
Manuel
M
Fuentes
María José
MJ
Martínez
Sara
S
Cano
Nuria
N
Vergara
María Jesús
MJ
Gaspar
Joaquín
J
González-Revaldería
María Carmen
MC
Barciela
Zoila
Z
Bugarín
María Dolores
MD
Fernández
Pilar
P
Badía
Concepción
C
Pintos
Mónica
M
González
José Jesús
JJ
Guillén
Pilar
P
Bermejo
Cristina
C
Fernández
Manuel
M
Arroyo
D000328:Adult; D002104:Cadmium / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood; D013030:Spain
D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead