ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Lead induced increase of blood pressure in female lead workers

K Nomiyama¹, H Nomiyama¹, S-J Liu², Y-X Tao³, T Nomiyama⁴, K Omae⁵

¹ Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi-Ken 329-0498, Japan
² Beijing Medical University School of Public Health, Beijing 100083, China
³ Beijing City Institute for Occupational Health, Beijing 100020, China
⁴ Division of Environmental Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Nagano 390-8621, Japan
⁵ Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo 160–8582, Japan

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr K Nomiyama, Midori 3-12-1, Minamikawachi-Machi, Tochigi-Ken 329-0433, Japan;
nomiyama{at}jichi.ac.jp

Aims: Although lead exposure has, in the absence of mathematical modelling, been believed to elevate blood pressure in females, it is necessary to clarify the relation between lead and blood pressure by eliminating confounding factors in the analysis.

Methods: Blood lead was measured in 193 female workers, including 123 lead exposed workers. Possible confounding factors were controlled by multiple regression analyses.

Results and Conclusion: Blood lead above 40 µg/dl was found to be the most potent factor for elevating systolic/diastolic blood pressure. Aging, urine protein, and plasma triglyceride also contributed to systolic/diastolic/pulse pressure increase, but hypertensive heredity did not. Data suggested that lead induced changes in lipoprotein metabolism may play an important role in the lead induced blood pressure increase in female workers.

Keywords: blood pressure; blood lead; mathematical modelling

Abbreviations: ALA, -aminolaevulinic acid; FEIP, fractional excretion of phosphorus; HDL, high density lipoprotein; LDL, low density lipoprotein; PC, partial correlation

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