Blood lead level and haematological parameters in Saudi Arabian female school children

Abstract

The present study afforded the opportunity to study the effect of lead on haematological parameters of 538 Saudi female pupils aged 6 to 12 years living in Riyadh City. Blood lead levels ranged from 2.300 to 27.362 μg dl⁻¹. Based on Mentzer's formula, 42 pupils were excluded due to thalassaemia. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to study the effect of lead on haematological parameters such as HGB, HCT, MCV and MCH after adjusting for serum Fe and a number of other variables. The results showed that MCV was significantly associated with blood lead levels. Microcytic anaemia in 108 pupils with blood lead levels ≥10 μ dl⁻¹ was also investigated. Of the 108 pupils, 24 had microcytic anaemia as defined by MCV <80 fl and HCT <0.36. The results of this study indicate that haematological abnormalities can be seen at blood lead levels less than the current CDC acceptable limit for lead. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.