Blood Lead Level Monitoring Related to Environmental Exposure in the General Iranian Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Publisher

Summary: What's the lead exposure risk in Iran? A meta-analysis shows higher blood lead levels than recommended, with urgent need for monitoring in the population. #EnvironmentalHealth #LeadExposure

Khoshnamvand N¹ ; Azizi N¹ ; Hassanvand MS² ; Shamsipour M³ ; Naddafi K^{1, 2} ; Oskoei V¹
Source: Environmental Science and Pollution Research Published:2021

Abstract

Exposure to lead can cause adverse health problems incorporating hypophosphatemia, heart and liver disease, cancers, neurological and cardiovascular diseases, central nervous disorders, and sensory disorders. This study investigated the blood lead level in the general Iranian population with environmental exposure to lead. In the presented systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors searched Iranian dataset, including Magiran, SID, Iranmedex, and Nopa, and the main dataset, comprising PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science, all available articles until 12 January 2019, and extracting 55 studies (with 63 data for analysis) to a meta-analysis. A comprehensive meta-analysis software, pooled standard deviation, mean, sample size, and the utterly random effects model was analyzed in this study. The results showed that the overall mean BLL (95% CI) in total inquiries was 6.41 μg/dL (5.96 to 6.87). Besides, the results for gender and age subgroups were as follows: mean BLL, 6.47 μg/dL, 95% CI, 5.79, to 7.15, mean BLL, 6.44 μg/dL, 95% CI, 5.96, to 6.91, respectively. Conclusively the mean BLL in the Iranian population was higher than the recommended level by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Results indicated that the mean BLL in men and adults was more elevated than in women and children, respectively. Therefore, BLL monitoring and screening of the general Iranian population are is necessary to determine a reference value. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.