Blood lead anlaysis of workers in electronics industries in the Philippines / Jinky Leilanie D.P. Lu.

The study looked into the amount of blood lead among workers in electronics industries. There were a total of 281 subjects who were selected based on stratified random sampling technique. The blood result of the 281 subjects revealed that 40.7% of the total number of subjects had blood lead result within the 21-30 ug/dl which is considered by the Department of Health (DOH) as inimical to health workers, although this is not considered inimical by the Department of Labor and Employment. The most vulnerable group includes the 21-30 category which represented 34% of the total. The results showed the following: 1) for the BEL set by DOH, about 42% of the subjects have 21-40 ug/dL of blood lead; 2) for the ACGIH BEL, about two percent (2.1% ) of the total number of subjects have blood lead result above 30 ug/dL; and 3) for the OSHA BEL, none exceeded the recommended level. The results showed that considering the BEL of both DOH and ACGIH, there are workers who have exceeded the recommended level. DOH sets its recommended value for blood lead BEL at a lower concentration becuase it considers the very old and the very young who may have lower resistance to the adverse health effects. in the Philippines where the very young maybe employed for socio-economic reasons, the value set by DOH may be applicable even to the workplace.

Nursing.