Environmental and Occupational Lead Exposure Among Children in Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess childhood lead exposure in a representative sample of Cairo, and to investigate the possible risk factors and sources of exposure.This cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2014 through April 2015. The target population was children aged 6 to 18 years, recruited into 4 groups, garbage city, moderate-living standard area, urban and suburban schools, and workshops in the city of Cairo. Blood lead levels (BLLs) and hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations were measured. Also, potential local environmental sources were assessed for hazardous lead contamination.Analysis on 400 participants has been carried out. A total of 113 children had BLLs in the range 10 to 20 μg/dL. Smoking fathers, housing conditions, playing outdoors, and exposure to lead in residential areas were significantly correlated with high BLLs. The mean values of hemoglobin were inversely correlated with BLLs. Children involved in pottery workshops had the highest BLLs and the lowest Hb values with a mean of (43.3 μg/dL and 8.6 g/dL, respectively). The mean value of environmental lead in workshop areas exceeded the recommended levels. Also, those values measured in dust and paint samples of garbage city were significantly high. Moreover, the mean lead levels in the soil samples were significantly higher in urban schools (P = 0.03) than the suburban ones.Childhood lead poisoning accounts for a substantial burden in Egypt, which could be preventable. Development of national prevention programs including universal screening program should be designed to reduce incidence of lead toxicity among children.

The Health Impacts of Hazardous Chemical Exposures among Child Labourers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…Only two papers compared blood lead levels between different workshop types. In one, blood lead was higher in child labourers from pottery workshops, compared to those working in automobile repair, car batteries, smelters, radiators, and garbage collection [68]. The other found higher blood lead levels in battery recyclers compared to welders [58].…”

“…Numerous limitations were found for this study methodology however, including a poor sampling process, small sample size, and insufficient reporting of methods. Another good quality paper [68] found that 100% of workers in a variety of different workshops, including auto repair, pottery production, and smelters, had blood lead levels higher than CDC's original 10 µg/dL threshold level. Studies of mixed metals reported increased concentrations for exposed workers in blood, hair, saliva [72], and urine [72,73].…”

“…Health outcome measures included blood, hair and urine concentrations, oxidative stress and DNA damage, neurobehavioural tests, pulmonary, thyroid and liver function tests, and mental health. Papers looking at metal concentrations in blood, hair, and urine samples, found significantly higher levels in exposed groups compared to unexposed groups for blood, hair and urine mercury concentrations [71], blood lead [13,58,67,68,70] hair lead [57,58], blood and hair cadmium [58], urinary nickel [59], and urinary chromium [59]. Importantly, in a high quality paper, urinary chromium concentrations were 35 times higher in working children and largely in excess of the occupational BEI for adult workers [75].…”

“…The paper reported that this lack of difference may have been due to study participants being male and therefore less likely to report mental health symptoms. Another paper found that working children were more likely to have adverse habits, such as smoking and drinking [68].…”

“…Dangerous levels of chemicals were repeatedly found in blood, hair and urine samples, with some studies reporting exposures way above adult OEL and BEI thresholds [59,68]. No specific thresholds for children were reported.…”