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Smoking
and Lead
It has long been known
that cigarettes contain lead (probably from lead arsenate used as an
insecticide on tobacco crops) and that smokers contain more lead than non-smokers
(see graph) and passive smokers, including children, similarly have a higher
blood lead than those not exposed at home.
In LEAD Action News Volume
1 No.3 Spring 1993, we cited an example where lead workers who smoked had
average blood lead levels of 50 µg/dL compared to an average of 30 µg/dL for
non-smokers. This may be due to lead particles on hands, face, hair, clothing
etc and in the air, being vaporised by the burning cigarette tip and the fumes
being more bioavailable on inhalation than the ever-present lead particles.
Recently, a caller said
two adult males had blood tests after renovating a house together. The smoker
had a blood lead of 45 µg/dL while the non-smoker, who also took a range of
dietary supplements daily, had a lead level of less than 10 µg/dL.
Should renovators be advised not to smoke on the job?
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Change
in maximum permissible level of lead in gasoline:
A - to 0.55 g/l
B - to 0.45 g/l
C - to 0.40 g/l
D - to 0.15 g/l
[Ref:
OECD Risk Reduction Monograph No. 1: Lead 1993. Source: Belgium Ministry of
Health and Environment, 1989]
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