A Study on the Relationship between Blood Lead Levels and Anemia Indicators in Workers Exposed to Low Levels of Lead.

The workers were classified into two groups according to their median value of blood and urine lead levels and urine ALA levels. The group of workers whose blood lead levels were in a lower range (1-15 micrograms/dl) exhibited significantly lower hematocrit, hemoglobin and erythrocytes than the group of the workers whose blood lead levels were in a higher range (16-39 micrograms/dl) (P < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in the mean values of hematocrit, hemoglobin and erythrocyte counts between the workers whose urine lead or ALA levels were below the median value and those whose urine lead or ALA levels were above the median value. Because the bulk of blood lead is reported to exist in the soluble fraction of erythrocytes, low levels of blood lead are believed to exhibit low levels of anemia indicators.