Relation between environmental pollution with lead and snoring

ABSTRACT

To investigate the pathogenesis of snoring in relation to environmental pollution, an estimation of blood lead levels was done in 40 patients with different causes of snoring compared with ten healthy controls. Pulmonary function tests revealed a significant difference in FEV1, FVC and FEF50/FIF50 with no significant difference in FEV1/FVC. Also, the mean O2 SAT and PO2 in patients were significantly lower than controls, while the mean PCO2 in patients was lower than controls with no significant difference. The mean blood lead levels in patients were higher than the controls with a significant statistical difference. Thus, the toxic effect of environmental lead pollution could be considered as a possible risk factor for this condition