Poisoning of workers working in small lead-based units

BACKGROUND: No data are available with the labor departments among the workers of small-scale lead-based units with regard to lead poisoning. One hundred and ninety-five workers were investigated for lead exposure and three were found exceeding the limit of 80 mg/dL, which required a treatment for lead poisoning. AIM: To assess the exposure and health risk in workers working in small lead-based units. SETTING AND DESIGN: Random sampling is selected from the cross-sectional medical study. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Medical examination cum biochemical/hematological investigations along with blood lead estimation were carried out in these workers. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Epi-Info and SPSS 16.0 were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Workers' blood lead levels were brought down from 114.4, 110.0 and 120.6 mg/dL with treatment of D-penicillamine to 40 mg/dL. It may be concluded that lead poisoning is a preventable public health problem that particularly affects the industrial workers in small lead-based units.