Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Japan.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Japan.
Chemosphere. 2021 Sep;279:130490. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130490. Epub 2021 Apr 15.
Kabwe is a mining town in Zambia that has been ranked among "the ten most polluted places in the world" with previous findings of serious lead (Pb) pollution. In this study, we aim to examine the impact of childhood Pb poisoning on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of mothers in Kabwe. The HRQoL was assessed using the Short-Form 36 survey for 404 mothers coming from residences in 40 randomly selected standard enumeration areas (SEAs). Blood lead levels (BLLs) of the household members including the mothers themselves were measured. We found a significant positive correlation between the BLLs of the mothers and their children (R = 0.6385, p < 0.0001), while the BLLs of preschool-aged and school-aged children were significantly higher than those of their mothers and fathers. Using the data sets containing the BLLs of the household members, the age of the mothers, the household income, and the household SEA, we performed stepwise multiple linear regression analyses. The results showed significant negative associations between the representative BLL of household children and the BLL of preschool-aged children with the vitality and mental health scores of their mothers. Additionally, the BLL of school-aged children was only significantly associated with the mental health score of their mothers. By contrast, there was a significant negative association between the BLLs of the mothers with the social role functioning score. This suggests that elevated BLLs in children have a negative impact on the mental health conditions of their mothers regardless of the mothers' BLL.
卡布韦是赞比亚的一个矿业城镇，曾被列为“世界十大污染地”之一，此前发现其存在严重的铅（Pb）污染。在这项研究中，我们旨在探讨儿童铅中毒对卡布韦母亲健康相关生活质量（HRQoL）的影响。使用短式 36 健康调查（SF-36）对来自 40 个随机选择的标准人口普查区（SEA）的 404 位母亲进行了 HRQoL 评估。测量了包括母亲在内的家庭成员的血铅水平（BLL）。我们发现母亲和孩子的 BLL 之间存在显著的正相关关系（R=0.6385，p<0.0001），而学龄前和学龄儿童的 BLL 明显高于他们的母亲和父亲。使用包含家庭成员 BLL、母亲年龄、家庭收入和家庭 SEA 的数据集，我们进行了逐步多元线性回归分析。结果表明，家庭儿童的代表性 BLL 与学龄前儿童的 BLL 与母亲的活力和心理健康评分呈显著负相关。此外，学龄儿童的 BLL 仅与母亲的心理健康评分显著相关。相比之下，母亲的 BLL 与社会角色功能评分呈显著负相关。这表明儿童体内的 BLL 升高会对其母亲的心理健康状况产生负面影响，而与母亲的 BLL 无关。
