Haematological indices and serum lead level in welders working in automobile industry in a Nigerian city

Forty-four welders working in car maintenance industry in Jos; Nigeria had their haemoglobin; haematocrit; leucocyte; platelet and serum lead level determined; while their urine were screened for haem synthetic products. The serum lead level in welders was 28.5 plus 11.2/ng/dl which was significantly higher than the value of 20.8 plus 9/ng/dl recorded for the control group. Though 24 welders who had worked over 10 years had higher serum levels than 20 welders who had worked for less than 10 years this was not statistically significant; also urine examination did not reveal the presence of porphyrinogen or porphyrin in the welders