TY - JOUR
T1 - Monitoring blood lead levels in workers overexposed to occupational lead
T2 - An analysis of Israeli data
AU - Derazne, Estela
AU - Kahan, Ernesto
AU - Rybski, Milene
AU - Shain, Ralph
AU - Ashkenazi, Ruth
PY - 1996/2
Y1 - 1996/2
N2 - In a retrospective cohort study, we followed the blood lead [Pb(B)] and zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) determinations of 292 workers found to have Pb(B) levels above the biological exposure index (BEI) during 1987-1993. The results indicated that (a) 22.6% of these workers were never retested for Pb(B) during the follow-up period; (b) 38.5% of the workers tested in the first year of the follow-up continued to exhibit Pb(B) levels above the BEI (84.7% of them also had ZPP ≥100 μg/dl); (c) about 25% of the remaining cohort had at least one more result above the BEI during the fourth, fifth, and sixth years of follow-up; and (d) the incidence density rate of recurrence of Pb(B) concentrations above the BEI was 0.236. We recommend the establishment of a target value lower than the BEI that should be reached before the reinstatement of the overexposed worker. In our view this target value, combined with an efficient control of industrial hygiene conditions, will decrease the rate of recurrence of overexposure.
AB - In a retrospective cohort study, we followed the blood lead [Pb(B)] and zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) determinations of 292 workers found to have Pb(B) levels above the biological exposure index (BEI) during 1987-1993. The results indicated that (a) 22.6% of these workers were never retested for Pb(B) during the follow-up period; (b) 38.5% of the workers tested in the first year of the follow-up continued to exhibit Pb(B) levels above the BEI (84.7% of them also had ZPP ≥100 μg/dl); (c) about 25% of the remaining cohort had at least one more result above the BEI during the fourth, fifth, and sixth years of follow-up; and (d) the incidence density rate of recurrence of Pb(B) concentrations above the BEI was 0.236. We recommend the establishment of a target value lower than the BEI that should be reached before the reinstatement of the overexposed worker. In our view this target value, combined with an efficient control of industrial hygiene conditions, will decrease the rate of recurrence of overexposure.
KW - biological exposure index
KW - biological monitoring
KW - lead exposures
KW - occupational health
KW - regulatory legislation
KW - zinc protoporphyrin
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030024864&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0274(199602)29:2<187::AID-AJIM9>3.0.CO;2-P
DO - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0274(199602)29:2<187::AID-AJIM9>3.0.CO;2-P
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AN - SCOPUS:0030024864
SN - 0271-3586
VL - 29
SP - 187
EP - 193
JO - American Journal of Industrial Medicine
JF - American Journal of Industrial Medicine
IS - 2
ER -
