Correlación de protoporfirina zinc y plomo en sangre en trabajadores de fábricas de baterías, de Bogotá, Colombia

Cardenas-Bustamante O, Varona-Uribe ME, Nunez-Trujillo SM, Ortiz-Varon JE, Pena-Parra GE. Correlation of zinc protoporphyrin with blood lead levels in car battery industry workers in Bogota, Colombia. Salud Publica Mex 2001;43:203-210. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html Abstract Objective. To determine the usefulness of zinc protopor- phyrin in blood (PPz) as an indicator of lead exposure in workers of the homemade car battery industry. Material and methods. A cross-sectional study was performed in 116 workers of the car battery industry in Bogota, Colom- bia. Data on general, occupational, and health variables were collected by interview. Two categories of PPz val- ues were established: Those below the cutoff value (70 μg/ dL) and those above it. A linear regression analysis was per- formed to measure the correlation between logarithm val- ues of PPz (>70 μg/dL) and lead in blood (PbB) (>38 μg/dL). Results. A semi-logarithmic correlation coefficient of r=0.54 was found, and statistically significant associations between high levels of PPz and direct exposure to lead were observed (OR:3.35, 95% IC 1.02-11.91; p:0.02); for workers who often use lead as a raw material (OR:7.80, 95% IC 2.96-21.03; p<0.01), as well as for workers who do not change work clothes often (OR:3.55, 95% IC 1.17-11.01; p<0.01). Conclusions. PPz may be a useful diagnostic indicator for lead poisoning; it may also be used as a screen- ing test for surveillance programs in the biological moni- toring of workers exposed to lead. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html Cardenas-Bustamante O, Varona-Uribe ME, Nunez-Trujillo SM, Ortiz-Varon JE, Pena-Parra GE. Correlacion de protoporfirina zinc y plomo en sangre en trabajadores de fabricas de baterias, de Bogota, Colombia. Salud Publica Mex 2001;43:203-210. El texto completo en ingles de este articulo esta disponible en: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html