The Relationships Between Blood Pb Levels and Blood Pressure Among Lead-Exposed Workers in China: A Repeated-Measure Study

Abstract

Objectives To explore the differences in the increase of SBP and DBP in three consecutive years among Pb workers. Methods 448 Pb workers were enrolled in this repeated measure study. Blood Pb, SBP and DBP were measured in 2015-2017. Repeated measure of ANOVA was used to compare the differences in the increase of SBP and DBP. Results The mean SBP were 124.0/125.5/126.9 mmHg, and the mean DBP was 75.4/77.4/77.8 mmHg from 2015 to 2017. The difference in the increase of SBP and DBP was 2.94/2.42 mmHg during the three-year period. The average annual increase of SBP or DBP showed an upward trend in different Pb dose groups (F = 4.904, P = 0.002; F = 3.612, P = 0.013). Conclusions Pb exposure caused an average annual increase in SBP and DBP with 0.98 and 0.81 mmHg, which provided basic data for health surveillance.