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. 2018 Jun 1:626:96-98.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.091. Epub 2018 Jan 12.

Bone lead levels in an environmentally exposed elderly population in shanghai, China

Aaron J Specht  1 , Yanfen Lin  2 , Jian Xu  2 , Marc Weisskopf  3 , Linda H Nie  4
Affiliations

Bone lead levels in an environmentally exposed elderly population in shanghai, China

Aaron J Specht et al. Sci Total Environ. .

Abstract

This study looked at measurements of lead (Pb) in a pilot population of environmentally exposed elderly residents of Shanghai, China and presented the first set of bone Pb data on an elderly Chinese population. We found that with environmental exposures in this population using K-shell x-ray fluorescence (KXRF) bone Pb measurements 40% of the individuals had bone Pb levels above the nominal detection limit with an average bone lead level of 4.9 ± 3.6 μg/g. This bone lead level is lower than comparable values from previous studies of community dwelling adults in US cities. This population had a slightly higher geometric mean blood Pb of 2.6 μg/dL than the adult US population. The main conclusion of this data is that in Shanghai there is environmental exposure to Pb, measured through blood and bone, which should be further investigated to assess the health impact of this exposure.

Keywords: Biomonitoring; Bone lead; Cumulative; Environmental monitoring; Lead; Metals.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Bone Pb versus age for the 30 men in our study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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