Exposición al plomo y sus efectos en la salud infantil

Abstract

Childhood lead poisoning is a man-madedisease whose magnitude has not yet been measured in Chile. In the U.S. A. it has been estimated that 4 percent of children have elevated blood lead levels and that among poor black children, this rate is as high as 18 percent. The main sources of symptomatic lead poisoning are lead-based paint used in interior and exterior house surfaces, airbone lead from leaded gasoline and industrial emissions. Lead can be transferred from any source to soil and dust. Other sources of lead are contamined food and water, occupational sources, and lead glazed pottery. Neurological symptoms (hyperactivity, distractibility, lower intellectual development), psychological difficulties (behavioral deficits), hematologic abnormalities (reduction in the biosyntesis of heme, anemia), and metabolic changes (reduction in concentration of 1 -25 dihydroxy vitamin D and in the metabolism of erythrocyte pyrimidine) have been shown to occur in lead poisoning. Recent data suggests that prenatal exposure to lead my be related to minor congenital abnormalities, tumors of the kidney, and growth abnormalities. (Key words: lead poisoning, chronic lead exposure, elevated blood lead level.) La interaction de la especie humana con su medio ambiente produce multiples efectos, algunos beneficos y otros dafunos.El desarrollo industrial ha traido aparejada la acumulation de distintos elementos potencialmente toxicos para el organismo, entre estos el plomo, que se encuentra en el medio ambiente principalmente como resultado de dicha actividad y no tiene hasta el momento una funcion fisiologica conotida, pero si efectos adversos para la salud humana. Fuentes de plomoAire. El plomo del aire proviene principalmente de las emisiones producidas por los vehiculos de locomotion que utilizan gasolina plomada. En Chile, el plomo se utiliza en la gasolina como elemento antidetonante. La gasolina actualmente en

Reported Lead Levels in Different Environmental Matrices in Colombia

“…For these reasons it is appealing for use in industries related to construction, paint manufacturing, electroplating, mining, metallurgy, manufacturing and recycling of electric accumulators and batteries, among others [3]. It is for this reason that among the main sources of exposure to this metal are lead paints used inside and outside of buildings [4], [5], atmospheric emissions from stationary sources such as paint factories, metal processing facilities, battery factories, power plants, hazardous waste treatment plants, and mobile sources [6]; also, contaminated food and water, ceramics with leaded glazes [7], and occupational sources.…”