Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2094, South Africa.
Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Johannesburg, 2094, South Africa.
BMC Public Health. 2022 Jun 4;22(1):1123. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13439-8.
Lead has been associated with adverse health effects, especially neurocognitive and behavioural effects, in children. Communities living close to mining land are at risk of elevated exposure to lead.
This paper outlines a before and after intervention study protocol to evaluate the impact of a personal and domestic hygiene intervention on lead exposure in a community located adjacent to a mine dump. In each participating household, parents or guardians will be interviewed using a structured questionnaire to obtain information on socio-demographic characteristics, living conditions, domestic hygiene practices and potential alternative sources of exposure to lead. A registered nurse will collect hand wipe samples from children aged one to five years, for whom parental consent and where possible child assent has been obtained. Environmental dust samples will be collected from the floors and/or windowsills of children's dwellings for lead content analysis. Soil samples will be collected from yards to determine lead content. An educational intervention will then be applied to the intervention group, including the engagement of households or guardians in an educational discussion on the sources, pathways of exposure, health effects of lead exposure and protective measures, with the aid of a specially designed educational brochure. Data will be analysed for descriptive and inferential statistics using Stata version 16.
The study will determine whether the intervention led to a reduction in indoor dust lead levels, and if shown to be effective, will inform the development of an awareness campaign to reduce lead exposure in communities located in close proximity to mine dumps.
The study is retrospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System with registration number NCT05265572 and first release date of 18 February 2022.
铅已被证实与儿童健康不良影响有关，尤其是神经认知和行为方面的影响。居住在矿区附近的社区有接触铅的风险。
本文概述了一项干预前后研究方案，旨在评估个人和家庭卫生干预对毗邻矿区的一个社区中铅暴露的影响。在每个参与家庭中，父母或监护人将接受结构化问卷访谈，以获取有关社会人口特征、生活条件、家庭卫生习惯和潜在的其他铅暴露源的信息。注册护士将从 1 至 5 岁的儿童中采集手部擦拭样本，这些儿童已获得父母同意，在可能的情况下还获得了儿童同意。将从儿童居住的房屋地板和/或窗台采集环境灰尘样本，用于铅含量分析。将从院子里采集土壤样本，以确定铅含量。然后将对干预组实施教育干预，包括让家庭或监护人参与关于铅的来源、暴露途径、铅暴露对健康的影响以及保护措施的教育讨论，使用专门设计的教育手册辅助。将使用 Stata 版本 16 进行数据的描述性和推断性统计分析。
该研究将确定干预措施是否导致室内灰尘铅水平降低，如果被证明有效，将为在毗邻矿区的社区开展减少铅暴露的宣传活动提供信息。
该研究在 ClinicalTrials.gov 方案注册和结果系统中进行了回顾性注册，注册号为 NCT05265572，首次发布日期为 2022 年 2 月 18 日。
