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Blood Lead Levels in Occupationally Exposed Workers Involved in Battery Factories of Delhi-NCR Region: Effect on Vitamin D and Calcium Metabolism

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Abstract

Workers involved in battery manufacturing or recycling factories are occupationally exposed to high concentrations of lead. In humans, lead can cause a wide range of biological effects depending upon the level and duration of exposure. The purpose of this study was to find out the blood lead levels (BLL) in occupationally exposed workers involved in battery industry in Delhi NCR region and to study whether lead affected the vitamin D (vit D) and calcium metabolism. For this study 100 occupationally lead-exposed battery workers (LEBW) and 100 non-lead exposed controls (NLEC) were recruited. BLL were measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) technique while ELISA was performed to quantify the serum vit D levels in the study subjects. Routine biochemical parameters were measured by chemistry autoanalyzers. Statistical analysis was done using appropriate statistical tools. Results showed that BLL were significantly higher in LEBW as compared to NLEC (p < 0.0001). Serum vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus levels were significantly decreased in battery workers as compared to controls (p < 0.005). Spearman’s rank correlation analysis showed significant negative correlation of BLL with serum Vitamin D and calcium levels. Significant positive correlation was observed between BLL and duration of lead exposure. Weak negative correlation was also observed between BLL and vit D even after adjusting for smoking status. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that higher BLL significantly alters the vit D and calcium metabolism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, SGT Medical College & Research Institute, Gurugram, Haryana, India

    Himani & Busi Karunanand

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College & Hospital, New Delhi, India

    Raman Kumar

  3. Department of Biochemistry, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India

    Jamal Akhtar Ansari, Abbas Ali Mahdi & Dilutpal Sharma

  4. Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Room No. – 09, New Delhi, India

    Sudip Kumar Datta

Authors
  1. Himani
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  2. Raman Kumar
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  3. Jamal Akhtar Ansari
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  4. Abbas Ali Mahdi
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  5. Dilutpal Sharma
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  6. Busi Karunanand
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Correspondence to Sudip Kumar Datta.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals

This article involves participations of human subjects with the approval from Ethical Committee, SGT University, Gurgaon, Haryana, India (No. SGTU/FMHS/D/2015/Dated 17.09.2015)

Informed Consent

Prior written informed consent was obtained from all subjects recruited in this study.

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Himani, Kumar, R., Ansari, J.A. et al. Blood Lead Levels in Occupationally Exposed Workers Involved in Battery Factories of Delhi-NCR Region: Effect on Vitamin D and Calcium Metabolism. Ind J Clin Biochem 35, 80–87 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12291-018-0797-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12291-018-0797-z

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