Assessment of blood lead and haemoglobin levels among battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western Nigeria

Introduction: Human exposure to lead has significant public health problems. Occupational exposure of lead has shifted from industrial sources to battery repair activities. Battery technicians are at risk of exposure to lead via inhalation of  fumes, oral ingestion and skin absorption.   Objectives...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ebenezer Adeiza Ozomata, Babatunde Ogunnowo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of the College of Community Physicians
Subjects:
Online Access:https://account.jccpsl.sljol.info/index.php/sljo-j-jccpsl/article/view/8758
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832577703151140864
author Ebenezer Adeiza Ozomata
Babatunde Ogunnowo
author_facet Ebenezer Adeiza Ozomata
Babatunde Ogunnowo
author_sort Ebenezer Adeiza Ozomata
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Human exposure to lead has significant public health problems. Occupational exposure of lead has shifted from industrial sources to battery repair activities. Battery technicians are at risk of exposure to lead via inhalation of  fumes, oral ingestion and skin absorption.   Objectives: To assess and compare blood lead and haemoglobin levels of battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western Nigeria Methods: A cross-sectional study with multi-stage sampling was used to compare battery technicians and office workers in Lagos State. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection while blood samples were collected for lead and haemoglobin measurements. Chi-squared test, Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher’s exact test and Student t-test were used to test for significance at p≤0.05. Results: A total of 150 battery technicians and 150 office workers participated in the study. The battery technicians were less educated and earned less but had more years of working experience (p≤0.001) when compared to office workers. The median (range) blood lead value for battery workers was 9.0 (1.0-24.0) μg/dl compared to office workers 0.3 (0.01-3.2) μg/dl, which was statistically significant. The age of office workers was associated with their blood haemoglobin level.   Conclusions & Recommendations: Blood lead level of battery technicians was significantly higher than that of the office workers but their haemoglobin levels were non-significant. A switch to repair of non-lead batteries, changing the work process by enclosing the battery during repairs, more trainings on lead exposure reduction, use of personal protective devices and regular biological monitoring of lead may control elevated lead level among battery technicians. 
format Article
id doaj-art-d8221351c5ac498e920c52432159a69b
institution Kabale University
issn 1391-3174
2579-1451
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka
record_format Article
series Journal of the College of Community Physicians
spelling doaj-art-d8221351c5ac498e920c52432159a69b2025-01-30T18:57:35ZengCollege of Community Physicians of Sri LankaJournal of the College of Community Physicians1391-31742579-14512025-01-0130410.4038/jccpsl.v30i4.8758Assessment of blood lead and haemoglobin levels among battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western NigeriaEbenezer Adeiza Ozomata0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1080-4494Babatunde Ogunnowo1University of Lagos, Akoka, LagosUniversity of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos Introduction: Human exposure to lead has significant public health problems. Occupational exposure of lead has shifted from industrial sources to battery repair activities. Battery technicians are at risk of exposure to lead via inhalation of  fumes, oral ingestion and skin absorption.   Objectives: To assess and compare blood lead and haemoglobin levels of battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western Nigeria Methods: A cross-sectional study with multi-stage sampling was used to compare battery technicians and office workers in Lagos State. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection while blood samples were collected for lead and haemoglobin measurements. Chi-squared test, Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher’s exact test and Student t-test were used to test for significance at p≤0.05. Results: A total of 150 battery technicians and 150 office workers participated in the study. The battery technicians were less educated and earned less but had more years of working experience (p≤0.001) when compared to office workers. The median (range) blood lead value for battery workers was 9.0 (1.0-24.0) μg/dl compared to office workers 0.3 (0.01-3.2) μg/dl, which was statistically significant. The age of office workers was associated with their blood haemoglobin level.   Conclusions & Recommendations: Blood lead level of battery technicians was significantly higher than that of the office workers but their haemoglobin levels were non-significant. A switch to repair of non-lead batteries, changing the work process by enclosing the battery during repairs, more trainings on lead exposure reduction, use of personal protective devices and regular biological monitoring of lead may control elevated lead level among battery technicians.  https://account.jccpsl.sljol.info/index.php/sljo-j-jccpsl/article/view/8758Battery techniciansBlood lead levelsHaemoglobin levelsOffice workers
spellingShingle Ebenezer Adeiza Ozomata
Babatunde Ogunnowo
Assessment of blood lead and haemoglobin levels among battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western Nigeria
Journal of the College of Community Physicians
Battery technicians
Blood lead levels
Haemoglobin levels
Office workers
title Assessment of blood lead and haemoglobin levels among battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western Nigeria
title_full Assessment of blood lead and haemoglobin levels among battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western Nigeria
title_fullStr Assessment of blood lead and haemoglobin levels among battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of blood lead and haemoglobin levels among battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western Nigeria
title_short Assessment of blood lead and haemoglobin levels among battery technicians and local government office workers in South-western Nigeria
title_sort assessment of blood lead and haemoglobin levels among battery technicians and local government office workers in south western nigeria
topic Battery technicians
Blood lead levels
Haemoglobin levels
Office workers
url https://account.jccpsl.sljol.info/index.php/sljo-j-jccpsl/article/view/8758
work_keys_str_mv AT ebenezeradeizaozomata assessmentofbloodleadandhaemoglobinlevelsamongbatterytechniciansandlocalgovernmentofficeworkersinsouthwesternnigeria
AT babatundeogunnowo assessmentofbloodleadandhaemoglobinlevelsamongbatterytechniciansandlocalgovernmentofficeworkersinsouthwesternnigeria