Association between Soil and Blood Lead Levels of Small Scale Battery Repair Workers in Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana

In this study, the association between measurements of soil Pb (SL) levels and previously determined blood Pb (BL) exposure responses was investigated in battery repair workers from 25 different workshops in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. A curvilinear relationship was established between the SL and BL data recorded. The mathematical model of pooled BL data sets for battery repair workers in the Kumasi Metropolis is: BL = 252.1 e0.0003608SL [with 95% confidence bounds for the coefficients a = 252.1 (200.2, 304), b = 0.0003608 (0.0002607, 0.0004608), R2 = 0.6622, adjusted R2 = 0.6475]. The correlation coefficient between the modelled BL and observed BL was 0.833457 with p < 0.001. The results show that the higher the SL level at the workshop, the greater the exposure and, hence, the higher the BL level of the workers. The mean SL level, 1284.48 mg/Kg and BL level, 420.96 μg/L recorded for the workshops studied were 3.21 and 1.40 times higher than ACGIH and USEPA permissible level for SL and BL, respectively.