Lead exposure among lead-acid battery workers in Jamaica

To assess lead exposure in the Jamaican lead-acid battery industry, we surveyed three battery manufacturers (including 46 production workers) and 10 battery repair shops (including 23 battery repair workers). Engineering controls and respiratory protection were judged to be inadequate at battery manufacturers and battery repair shops. At manufacturers, 38 of 42 air samples for lead exceeded a work-shift time-weighted average concentration of 0.050 mg/m3 (range 0.030-5.3 mg/m3), and nine samples exceeded 0.50 mg/m3. Only one of seven air samples at repair shops exceeded 0.050 mg/m3 (range 0.003-0.066 mg/m3). Repair shop workers, however, had higher blood lead levels than manufacturing workers (65% vs. 28% with blood lead levels above 60 micrograms/dl, respectively). Manufacturing workers had a higher prevalence of safe hygienic practices and a recent interval of minimal production had occurred at one of the battery manufacturers. Workers with blood lead levels above 60 micrograms/dl tended to have higher prevalences of most symptoms of lead toxicity than did workers with lower blood lead levels, but this finding was not consistent or statistically significant. The relationship between zinc protoporphyrin concentrations and increasing blood lead concentrations was consistent with that described among workers in developed countries. The high risk of lead toxicity among Jamaican battery workers is consistent with studies of battery workers in other developing countries.