Investigation of blood lead levels in healthy children and children with microcytic anemia in Malatya and its surroundings

Investigation of blood lead levels in healthy children and children with microcytic anemia in Malatya and its surroundings Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate BLL in healthy children and children with microcytic anemia in Malatya and its surroundings, to determine those who had BLL that requires medical intervention and to find out whether there was association between BLL and microcytic anemia by comparing the two groups. Material and Method: BLLs of a total of 220 children, 110 healthy and 110 with microcytic anemia, whose ages varied between 2 and 17 were studied between December 2018 and June 2019. In order to identify risk factors for lead exposure simultaneously, the participants were given a survey including questions such as age, gender, exposure to plastic toy, whether their house was on the side of the highway, presence of relatives exposed to lead due to work or hobby, whether they lived in a house built before 1950s or visited such a house regularly and whether they were immigrants or refugees. Results: A total of 220 participants, 110 in the anemia group and 110 in the control group, were included in the study. 112 (50.9%) of the participants were female, while 108 (49,1%) were male and mean age was 8.0 (3.5-13.0). Mean BLL was found as 7.6±0.3 μg/dl. All of the participants in the study had a history of toy exposure and none of them were living in an old house. BLLs of those who had relatives exposed to lead due to work or hobby were higher than those of the participants who did not (p<0.001). BLLs of the participants who were immigrants or refugees were higher than those of who were not (p<0.001). No significant association was found between age category (p=0.136), gender (p=0.724), living on the side of highway (p=0.235) and BLL. No significant association was found between anemia group and control group in terms of BLL (p=0.410). Conclusions: It was found in our study that BLLs of children living in Malatya and its surroundings were higher than the safe level, while these levels were not associated with microcytic anemia. Control of sources of lead exposure and BLL screenings are important in terms of preventing long term health problems. Key Words: Child, blood lead level, lead exposure, microcytic anemia