High lead exposures resulting from pottery production in a village in Michoacán State, Mexico

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a screening study conducted to examine potential lead (Pb) exposures in residents of a Mexican village where Pb oxide continues to be used in ceramic pottery production. Extremely high Pb concentrations were measured in personal and indoor air samples, household surface dust samples, and household soil samples. Personal air Pb concentrations for workers performing pottery firing and glazing were up to 454 g/m 3 . Results from indoor air samples indicate that airborne Pb concentrations were lower during nonglazing period compared to the glazing period. Soil Pb concentrations measured in 17 homes ranged from 0.39 to 19.8 mg/g. Dust Pb loading on surfaces of household items, hands, and clothes of a worker ranged from 172 to 33 060 g/f t 2 . Pb content as high as 2.4 g/g was found in a bean stew cooked in a pot made in the village. Based on these Pb concentrations measured in multiple media and data adapted for exposure contact rates, we have made rough estimates of Pb exposures via inhalation, soil/dust ingestion, and food ingestion. Estimated total daily Pb intake, on average, is 4.0 mg for adults and 3.4 mg for children living in the village. In the total daily intake, a greatest fraction may be contributed by food ingestion and another significant fraction may come from soil/dust ingestion for the children. Although the sample size is small, these measurements indicate a very significant public health problem for the village residents and a large number of other similar communities in Mexico. (It was estimated that there are approximately 1.5 million glaze potters.) The Pb exposure is implicated in a number of pervasive health problems in the region, and is the cause for national and international attention. Several recommended solutions to this problem range from personal protection and behavioral changes to introduction of alternative glazes.

Sedimentation rates and trace metal input history in intertidal sediments from San Simón Bay (Ría de Vigo, NW Spain) derived from 210Pb and 137Cs chronology

“…Such important discharges are also coincident with the establishment of a ceramics factory close to the Oitavén-Verdugo River mouth, which occurred around 1970. Pb is utilized in the ceramics industry for glazing (Hibbert et al, 1999;Larsson et al, 1999). The high lead concentrations detected support the conclusion that the main Pb input to the Ría de Vigo from 1970 is constituted of discharges from this ceramics factory (a point-source).…”

A qualitative analysis of environmental policy and children's health in Mexico

“…Guidelines for reassessing blood lead and reducing preventable exposures generally follow current American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines [54]. It is worthy to note that the guidelines for management of lead poisoning mention specifically glazed pottery and other sources which are uniquely associated with neurotoxic exposure in this population [55,56]. …”

Nanoparticle emissions from traditional pottery manufacturing

“…[26][27][28] Hirtle et al (1998) 29 have reported that signicant amounts of metals are present in the total suspended particulate matter emitted during the ring of ceramics. These measurements can explain the ndings of Hibbert et al (1999) 30 and later of Jones et al (2013) 31 who showed that signicant amounts of heavy metals are present in the blood of artisanal pottery workers. Albeit the importance of these ndings, to the best of our knowledge, no information on the size distribution or the size-resolved composition of the emitted particles is available.…”