Blood lead level monitoring related to environmental exposure in the general Iranian population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2021-07, Vol.28 (25), p.32210-32223
• Main Authors: Khoshnamvand, Nahid, Azizi, Nahid, Hassanvand, Mohammad Sadegh, Shamsipour, Mansour, Naddafi, Kazem, Oskoei, Vahide
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Blood; Blood levels; Cardiovascular diseases; Coronary artery disease; Datasets; Disease control; Disorders; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Exposure; Health problems; Heart diseases; Hypophosphatemia; Lead poisoning; Liver diseases; Men; Meta-analysis; Monitoring; Population; Review Article; Subgroups; Systematic review; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-14148-2

Exposure to lead can cause adverse health problems incorporating hypophosphatemia, heart and liver disease, cancers, neurological and cardiovascular diseases, central nervous disorders, and sensory disorders. This study investigated the blood lead level in the general Iranian population with environmental exposure to lead. In the presented systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors searched Iranian dataset, including Magiran, SID, Iranmedex, and Nopa, and the main dataset, comprising PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science, all available articles until 12 January 2019, and extracting 55 studies (with 63 data for analysis) to a meta-analysis. A comprehensive meta-analysis software, pooled standard deviation, mean, sample size, and the utterly random effects model was analyzed in this study. The results showed that the overall mean BLL (95% CI) in total inquiries was 6.41 μg/dL (5.96 to 6.87). Besides, the results for gender and age subgroups were as follows: mean BLL, 6.47 μg/dL, 95% CI, 5.79, to 7.15, mean BLL, 6.44 μg/dL, 95% CI, 5.96, to 6.91, respectively. Conclusively the mean BLL in the Iranian population was higher than the recommended level by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Results indicated that the mean BLL in men and adults was more elevated than in women and children, respectively. Therefore, BLL monitoring and screening of the general Iranian population are is necessary to determine a reference value.