Effects of particle sizes and solubilities of lead sulphide dust on mill workers.

A total of 15 mill employees were sampled by means of personal samplers for total airborne lead and respirable air leads while working in a lead sulphide mill. Blood and urine samples were collected from the same workers during the period of the survey. Poor correlations were observed between the total air leads and blood leads for the total subgroups studied as well as between the respirable air leads and blood leads for the smokers. Tests simulating the acidity and retention of lead sulphide in the stomach confirmed the low solubility of this compound.