Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Front Public Health. 2023 Nov 7;11:1277182. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1277182. eCollection 2023.
In recent decades, heavy metals (HMs) have emerged as a global health concern. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, there is a general lack of awareness regarding the potential health risks associated with HMs pollution among automobile workers. Herein, we investigated the concentration of heavy metals such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr) among automobile workers who were occupationally exposed in Mingora City, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Three different automobile groups, i.e., battery recyclers, spray painters, and mechanics were studied in detail. A total of 40 blood samples were collected from automobile workers groups while 10 blood samples were collected as control individuals from different locations in the study area. We investigated heavy metals concentration with a standard method using an atomic absorption spectrometer AAS (PerkinElmer Analyst 700, United States). Based on our findings, the battery recycling group displayed the most elevated Pb levels (5.45 ± 2.11 μg/dL), exceeding those of both the spray painters' group (5.12 ± 1.98 μg/dL) and the mechanics' group (3.79 ± 2.21 μg/dL). This can be attributed to their higher exposure to Pb pollution resulting from the deterioration, dismantling, grinding, or crushing of old batteries. In the context of chromium (Cr) exposure, a similar trend was observed among the battery recycling group, as well as the spray painters and mechanics groups. However, in the case of cadmium (Cd), the mechanics' group exhibited the highest level of exposure (4.45 ± 0.65 μg/dL), surpassing the battery recycling group (1.17 ± 0.45 μg/dL) and the spray painters' group (1.35 ± 0.69 μg/dL), which was attributed to their greater exposure to welding fumes and other activities in their workplace. We believe that our findings will encourage regulatory measures to improve the health of automobile workers. However, further work is needed to determine various health-related issues associated with heavy metal exposure among automobile workers.
在最近几十年中，重金属（HMs）已成为全球关注的健康问题。不幸的是，在巴基斯坦，人们普遍缺乏对与汽车工人中重金属污染相关的潜在健康风险的认识。在此，我们研究了在巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省明戈拉市职业暴露于重金属的汽车工人中，如铅（Pb）、镉（Cd）和铬（Cr）等重金属的浓度。我们详细研究了三个不同的汽车组，即电池回收商、喷涂画家和机械师。从汽车工人组中总共采集了 40 份血样，而从研究区域的不同位置采集了 10 份血样作为对照个体。我们使用原子吸收光谱仪 AAS（美国珀金埃尔默公司的 Analyst 700）按照标准方法研究了重金属浓度。根据我们的发现，电池回收组显示出最高的 Pb 水平（5.45±2.11μg/dL），超过了喷涂画家组（5.12±1.98μg/dL）和机械师组（3.79±2.21μg/dL）的 Pb 水平。这是由于他们在旧电池的劣化、拆卸、研磨或粉碎过程中接触到更高水平的 Pb 污染。在铬（Cr）暴露方面，电池回收组以及喷涂画家和机械师组也观察到了类似的趋势。然而，在镉（Cd）方面，机械师组表现出最高的暴露水平（4.45±0.65μg/dL），超过了电池回收组（1.17±0.45μg/dL）和喷涂画家组（1.35±0.69μg/dL），这是由于他们在工作场所接触到更多的焊接烟尘和其他活动。我们相信，我们的研究结果将鼓励采取监管措施，以改善汽车工人的健康状况。然而，需要进一步的工作来确定与汽车工人中重金属暴露相关的各种健康问题。
