Prevalence of Anemia in Brush Painters of a South Indian City, Mysore

Background: Painters are chronically exposed to lead based paints, which causes anemia by impairing heme biosynthesis and increasing the red cell destruction. The present study was conducted to assess the lead exposure and haematological effects of lead in brush painters as they are chronically expo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Online journal of health & allied sciences : OJHAS 2013-11, Vol.12 (3)
Main Authors: Sumanth Mallikarjuna Majgi, Meera S, Nishil Gowda
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anemia
Blood lead level
Hematology
Lead
Occupational exposure
Painters
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Summary:Background: Painters are chronically exposed to lead based paints, which causes anemia by impairing heme biosynthesis and increasing the red cell destruction. The present study was conducted to assess the lead exposure and haematological effects of lead in brush painters as they are chronically exposed to lead based paints. Objective: To estimate prevalence of anemia among brush painters and lead exposure among them. Methodology: Community based cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 occupational residential brush painters of Mysore city of India during July 2012 and September 2012. Subjects were interviewed using standardized questionnaire, mainly, for lead toxicity symptoms and personal hygiene. Venous blood samples were drawn and haematological parameters were determined (n=100). The marker of anaemia was haemoglobin concentration. Through Systematic random sampling, 30 samples were selected for blood lead concentration (PbB) estimation. Results: The prevalence of anemia among the subjects was 3%. The mean hemoglobin concentration was 15.5±1.4 g/dL and mean blood lead concentration (PbB) was 12.9±10.9 µg/dL. There was no significant correlation found between the PbB and haematological parameters. There was a high prevalence of lead toxicity symptoms and the symptoms were more in the less hygienic subjects than the hygienic subjects. Conclusion: The blood lead concentration among painters is less than the threshold (PbB >50 µg/dL) for hematological alterations. Hence lead induced anaemia is not a health risk among brush painters. The PbB is also less than the recommended threshold for occupational exposure (30 µg/dL). But the high prevalence of lead toxicity symptoms indicates the long term health effects of lead even at low levels of exposure. Fortunately, being hygienic is an easily achievable goal to decrease the lead exposure among the painters.
ISSN:0972-5997