Blood Lead Levels And Selected Hematological Parameters Among at Risk Occupational Groups And Blood Donors in Kenyasi, Brong Ahafo Region

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Lead poisoning has been a major public health problem for decades across the world and receiving a blood transfusion has been considered as a risk factor for lead exposure. Children and pregnant women are most vulnerable to the toxic effects of lead. However, over 40% of transfused blood in Ghana is given to children below the age of 5 years. Among adults, occupation is the leading cause of elevated blood lead levels (EBLL). Aim: This study compared blood lead levels among selected at risk occupational groups with low risk blood donors at Kenyasi in the Brong Ahafo Region. Methods: 200 participants made up of 40 illegal miners (galamsey), 40 painters/sprayers, 40 drivers/fuel station attendants and 40 auto-mechanics belonged to the exposed group as 40 qualified blood donors belonged to the non-exposed group. Their blood samples were taken into ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) tubes and profile data collected after seeking informed consent. The samples were analysed for BLL using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS) and full blood count (FBC) using ABX Micros 60 as well as thin blood film stained with Leishman stain for red cell morphology. Data was entered into Excel spreadsheet (2010) and transferred into STATA version 14.0 for analysis. Results: Out of the 200 participants sampled, 186 (93%) were males and 14 (7%) were females. All females belonged to the non-exposed group. Mean age of participants was 28.58 ± 8.17 years [95% CI: 27.44 – 29.72] with a range of 18 to 57 years. The geometric mean (GM) blood lead level (BLL) of study participants was 6.34 ±1.41 µg/dl [95% CI: 6.04 – 6.65] with a minimum BLL of 1.8 µg/dl and maximum of 14.4 µg/dl. The GM BLL for the exposed group was 7.0 ± 1.8 µg/dl and the non-exposed xvi was 5.4 ± 1.8 µg/dl which was statistically significant (p=0.0001). The prevalence of EBLLs was 84.5%, 89.4% and 65% in the study population, the exposed and the nonexposed groups respectively. In the individual groups, it was 100% among painters, 97.5% among auto-mechanics, 95% in small scale miners and 65% in fuel attendants/drivers. The mean Hb of study population was 14.08 ± 1.53 g/dl with a range of 7.4 to 16.8 g/dl and that for the exposed and the non-exposed groups were 14.23 ± 1.32 g/dl and 13.68 ± 1.49 g/dl respectively. The exposed group had significantly higher Hb compared to the non-exposed group with a p-value of 0.0441. The prevalence of anaemia was 18.5% in the exposed group but none in the non-exposed group. Microcytic hypochromic anaemia, normocytic normochromic anaemia and macrocytic anaemia were 16.2%, 73% and 10.8% respectively. There was no significant linear correlation between haemoglobin concentration and blood lead levels measured (Correlation Coefficient=0.0492; p=0.7382). Basophilic stippling was not observed in any of the smears prepared. Conclusion: Occupation is strongly associated with EBLL in the study area. Unusual sources of lead exposure, such as blood transfusion, deserve new attention as blood from individuals in high risk occupations could pose potential threat to the health of vulnerable populations like children and pregnant women who require frequent blood transfusion.