[Occupational lead poisoning in Poland].

During the years 1970-1996, 8,414 cases (8,176 among men and 238 among women) of lead poisoning, recognised as occupational disease, were registered with the peak in 1972-1976 (500-800 cases per year). An in-depth analysis of 7,893 (men) reported in the period between 1970 and 1992 revealed that repeated poisonings in the same person were observed quite frequently. Among 4,556 men poisoned by lead during the period under study, in every third men the disease was diagnosed at least twice. Almost half of men with occupational lead poisoning received the occupational disease certification after the exposure lasting less than five years. The majority of persons poisoned by lead (64.3%) were employed in plants located in the Katowice voivodship. More than half of men with occupational lead poisoning (54.1%) was exposed to maximum concentrations of lead, exceeding MAC values by two hundred times. A diminishing number of occupational lead poisoning observed during the 1990s does not reflect a real-level of occupational exposure. The majority of cases reported apply to large plants or industrial complexes where the prevention of poisonings is rather well organised. But dispersed small production and service enterprises, where acute cases of poisoning may lead to irreversible organic changes create a great problem. One of the prerequisites for effective prevention of occupational lead poisoning is to identify and to make a complete inventory of workplaces where lead occurs, as well as to identify workposts hazardous to worker's health, and to monitor lead concentrations in the air.