Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Toxicological analysis of the risk of lead exposure in metal processing

Ivan M Krstić¹, Vesna B Lazarević², Goran L Janaćković¹, Nenad S Krstić³ , Nemanja Anastasijević³, Dragan M Djordjević³, Dejan Dulanović³

¹Faculty of Occupational Safety, University of Nis, Čarnojevića 10a; ²Centre for Preventive Medical Care, Military Hospital, Bulevar dr Zorana Djindjića bb; ³Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Nis, Visegradska 33, 18000 Nis, Serbia.

For correspondence:- Nenad Krstić Email: nenad.krstic84@yahoo.com Tel:+38118533015

Accepted: 20 November 2017 Published: 29 December 2017

Citation: Krstić IM, Lazarević VB, Janaćković GL, Krstić NS, Anastasijević N, Djordjević DM, et al. Toxicological analysis of the risk of lead exposure in metal processing. Trop J Pharm Res 2017; 16(12):2959-2966 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v16i12.21

© 2017 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate toxicological risks for workers who are exposed to lead in their work environment.

Methods: Since it is an important indicator of toxicological risk, a statistical analysis of lead concentration and biological lead toxicity markers in blood and urine were performed for both exposed and control groups. Both experimental groups consisted of employees from "NISSAL" JSC factory. Analytical epidemiological method in the form of a retrospective cohort study was applied, and covered the period from 2001 to 2010. The concentration of lead, δ-aminolevulinic acid, and coproporphyrin in biological samples were determined by spectrophotometric methods.

Results: The results showed a high positive correlation between lead concentrations in blood and urine and the length of exposure of the participants (p < 0.01). Also, increase of lead concentration in the biological material significantly increased δ-aminolevulinic acid (p < 0.01) and slightly increased the concentration of coproporphyrin, both of which are important indicators of toxicological risk.

Conclusion: The control group of employees belonged to the normal risk category, while the exposed group belonged to a moderate risk category. Correlation between the monitored parameters is statistically significant at p < 0.01 and p < 0.05

Keywords: Lead, ^8;-Aminolevulinic acid, Coproporphyrin, Chronic exposure, Toxicity, Correlation