Blood lead and cadmium in a general population in Jinan City, China

In 1991, blood samples were obtained from 150 adult Jinan citizens (74 men and 76 women at the ages of 20 to 57 years) who had no known occupational exposure to heavy metals. Age, sex, two social habits of smoking and drinking (in terms of daily consumption) and negative occupational history were examined in a medical interview. The samples were analyzed for lead (Pb-B) and cadmium (Cd-B) with a flame atomic absorption spectrometer. The geometric mean (GM) Pb-B and Cd-B were 92.3 and 0.94 micrograms/l, respectively, among 39 nonsmoking men, whereas the counterpart values were 123.4 micrograms/l and 2.61 micrograms/l among 35 smoking men (mean consumption; > 15 cigarettes/day); the difference was significant both for Pb-B and Cd-B. Comparison between 39 male and 76 female nonsmokers showed that Pb-B was significantly higher in men (92.3 micrograms/l) than in women (71.6 micrograms/l, whereas the difference in Cd-B (0.94 micrograms/l) for men versus 0.83 micrograms/l for women) was insignificant. When the women were classified by decade of age and Cd-B were compared, there was a trend of age-dependent increase in Cd-B from 0.60 micrograms/l in 20s to 1.24 micrograms/l in 40s, followed by no further increase at higher ages. Age-dependent changes were not remarkable in Pb-B in women, or Cd-B and Pb-B in men. No significant time-dependent changes were observed when the present results were compared with the results from two similar studies conducted in 1983 and 1985, respectively.