Characteristics of 802 current and former lead manufacturing workers and 135 environmentally exposed controls who underwent tibial lead measurement
| Characteristic | Work status | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Active | Retired | Not exposed | |
| Number | 723 | 79 | 135 |
| Age (y, median (IQR)) | 39.4 (17.8–64.8) 15.6 | 50.3 (35.2–59.1) 8.5 | 32.3 (22.0–60.2) 12.2 |
| Duration of work with lead (y, median (IQR)) | 6.3 (0–36.2) 9.8 | 8.5 (0.5–35.0) 5.7 | NA |
| Education (%): | |||
| Less than high school | 45.8 | 86.1 | 19.2 |
| High school | 45.6 | 11.4 | 68.9 |
| Some college | 4.9 | 2.5 | 8.2 |
| Completed college or graduate | 3.7 | 0 | 3.7 |
| Tobacco use (%): | |||
| Never | 27.0 | 76.0 | 25.9 |
| Current | 61.1 | 20.2 | 64.4 |
| Past | 11.9 | 3.8 | 9.6 |
| Alcohol use (%): | |||
| Never | 26.2 | 54.4 | 23.0 |
| Current | 67.7 | 40.5 | 70.4 |
| Past | 6.1 | 5.1 | 6.7 |
| Height (cm, mean (SD)) | 165.5 (7.8) | 157.3 (7.6) | 167.9 (6.2) |
| Weight (kg, mean (SD)) | 62.8 (9.2) | 59.6 (7.7) | 66.9 (9.0) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2, mean (SD)) | 23 (3) | 24 (3) | 24 (3) |
| Tibia lead (μg/g, median (range) IQR) | 24.4 (−7.4 to 337.6) 35.2 | 26.4 (−6.7 to 196.7) 24.3 | 5.0 (−10.9 to 26.6) 8.4 |
| Tibia lead measurement error (μg/g, median (IQR)) | 4.8 (0.6–15.8) 2.0 | 5.3 (3.0–10.8) 3.4 | 6.3 (5.0–12.0) 0.9 |
| DMSA chelatable lead (μg, median (IQR)) | 129.9 (4.8–2102.9) 202.4 | 37.4 (4.8–508.0) 50.5 | NA |
| Blood lead (μg/dl, median (IQR)) | 31.7 (5.4–85.7) 19.3 | 13.5 (4.3–47.8) 11.1 | 5.1 (2.0–10.0) 2.6 |
| Creatinine clearance rate (ml/min, mean (SD)) | 96.4 (25.9) | 116.3 (34.1) | NA |
NA=not applicable; IQR=interquartile range.