Dietary and Inhalation Intake of Lead and Estimation of Blood Lead Levels in Adults and Children in Kanpur, India

Abstract

This research was initiated to study lead levels in various food items in the city of Kanpur, India, to assess the dietary intake of lead and to estimate blood lead (PbB) levels, a biomarker of lead toxicity. For this purpose, sampling of food products, laboratory analysis, and computational exercises were undertaken. Specifically, six food groups (leafy vegetables, nonleafy vegetables, fruits, pulses, cereals, and milk), drinking water, and lead air concentration were considered for estimating lead intake. Results indicated highest lead content in leafy vegetables followed by pulses. Fruits showed low lead content and drinking water lead levels were always within tolerable limits. It was estimated that average daily lead intake through diet was about 114 microg/day for adults and 50 microg/day in children; tolerable limit is 250 microg/day for adults and 90 microg/day for children. The estimated lead intakes were translated into the resultant PbB concentrations for children and adults using a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model. Monte Carlo simulation of PbB level variations for adults showed that probability of exceeding the tolerable limit of PbB (i.e.,10 microg/dL) was 0.062 for the pre-unleaded and 0.000328 for the post-unleaded gasoline period. The probability of exceeding tolerable limits in PbB level was reduced by a factor of 189 in the post-unleaded scenario. The study also suggested that in spite of the introduction of unleaded gasoline, children continue to be at a high risk (probability of exceeding 10 microg/dL = 0.39) because of a high intake of lead per unit body weight.

Personal Exposure and Dose of Inhaled Ambient Particulate Matter Bound Metals in Five European Cities

“…The behaviour of As and Pb (j) in each tissue group (i) can be described by a set of first-order differential equations (Sharma et al, 2005;Chou et al, 2009):…”

“…Model parameters were obtained from the scientific literature. To implement the model, the following parameters are required: Tissue/Blood partition coefficients for the various tissue groups (adopted from Liao et al (2008) for As and from Sharma et al (2005) for Pb), elimination rate constants (adopted from Liao et al (2008)), whereas biochemical constants for metabolism and first-order rate constants for As were derived from Chou et al (2009). The physiological constants (blood flow rates and tissue volumes) were obtained from ICRP (2003) and Lenz (2010).…”

“…The PBPK model was developed to describe the movement of metals from the blood into the tissues as a blood-flowlimited model.The model is applicable for the prediction of the kinetics and metabolism of As, Pb and Cd in the human body. The PBPK model is based on the studies of Chou et al (2009) and Sharma et al (2005) for As and Pb, respectively. The Cd pharmacokinetics was modelled using the formulation proposed in Kjellstrom and Nordberg model (Kjellstrom and Nordberg, 1978).…”

Effects of chronic exposure to lead, cadmium, and manganese mixtures on oxidative stress in rat liver and heart / Utjecaj kronične istodobne izloženosti olovu, kadmiju i manganu na oksidativni stres u jetri i srcu štakora

“…Dietary intakes of Pb differ between countries and regions. In the Indian city of Kanpur average daily lead intake through diet is about 114 μg per day for adults and 50 μg day -1 in children (4), in the Zhejiang province in China 0.55 μg kg -1 (body weight) per day (about 27.5-38.5 μg day -1 per person) (5), in Croatia 15-100 μg per day per person (6), and in Poland 39.5-89.9 μg day -1 per person (7).…”

Review: Assessment of the Doable Utilisation of Dendrochronology as an Element Tracer Technology in Soils Artificially Contaminated with Heavy Metals

“…In such circumstances, alternative techniques must be devised to produce pollution histories. Sharma et al 2 Brink et al 3 Méndez et al 4 have attempted to describe changes in ambient lead levels by analysis of the lead levels in calcified human tissues of known ages. Miquel and Bungartz 5 have produced metal pollution histories by analysis of dated herbarium specimens of various bryophytes.…”