[Blood lead level in painters and the influential factors]

To investigate the blood lead level (BLL) in painters and the influential factors, and to provide the theory foundation for the prevention and control of lead poisoning in painters.

A total of 535 painters from Sany Heavy Industry Company Limited and Xiangjiang Kansai Paint Corporation, who participated in the health examination during October 2012 and December 2012, were recruited and divided into a positive blood lead group and a negative blood lead group according to the level of blood lead. Questionnaires survey and physical/biochemical examinations were performed. Chi-square Test and multivariate logistic regression were used to estimate the factors that contributed to the elevated blood lead.

The results from 525 questionnaires and physical/ biochemical examination were collected. There were 55 workers (10.4%) whose BLL were 0.04 mg/L. The maximum value of BLLs was 0.35mg/L. The multivariate logistic regression showed that smoking (OR=2.424), smoking or eating in the workplace (OR=2.139), not washing hands before smoking or eating (OR=1.624), and the cycle of changing masks longer than two weeks (OR=2.158) were positively associated with BLL.

Smoking, smoking or eating in the workplace, not washing hands before smoking or eating, and the cycle of changing masks longer than two weeks are risk factors for higher BLL.