Blood lead levels in US workers, 1988-1994

Limited research has been conducted to measure the association between elevated blood lead levels and sociodemographic factors among U.S. workers in various industries and occupations using population-based survey data. Data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 10,127) were used to determine the blood lead levels in the U.S. workers. The prevalence of elevated blood lead levels greater than or equal to50 mug/dL was 0.001% (1560) among U.S. workers compared with 0.2% (19,953) workers with elevated lead levels greater than or equal to40 mug/dL. Regression analyses indicated that workers in the repair service industry were correlated with higher blood lead levels than those workers in the construction industry. Although low blood lead levels were found for the entire working population, the results showed that there were still high blood lead levels in certain occupations and industries during 1988 to 1994.