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INTRODUCTION: Lead industries are one of the major sources of environmental pollution and can affect human through different activities, including industrial processes, metal plating, mining, battery recycling, etc. Although different studies have documented the various sources of lead exposure, studies highlighting different types of industries as sources of environmental contamination are limited. Therefore, this narrative review aims to focus mainly on lead industries as significant sources of environmental and human contamination. CONTENT: Based on the keywords searched in bibliographic databases we found 44 relevant articles that provided information on lead present in soil, water, and blood or all components among participants living near high-risk areas. We presented three case scenarios to highlight how lead industries have affected the health of citizens in Vietnam, Uruguay, and Malaysia. SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK: Factories conducting mining, e-waste processing, used lead-acid battery recycling, electronic repair, and toxic waste sites were the primary industries for lead exposure. Our study has shown lead exposure due to industrial activities in Vietnam, Uruguay, Malaysia and calls for attention to the gaps in strategic and epidemiologic efforts to understand sources of environmental exposure to lead fully. Developing strategies and guidelines to regulate industrial activities, finding alternatives to reduce lead toxicity and exposure, and empowering the public through various community awareness programs can play a crucial role in controlling exposure to lead.
RESUMO
Lead (Pb) pollution and human exposure to Pb, is an important issue for the international community to address being associated with 0.90 million deaths from long-term effects. The Republic of Zambia is a typical mineral resource-rich country, with long-standing mining and smelting activities of metals including Pb in several parts of the country. This narrative review provides a comprehensive overview of previous papers that have assessed human exposure to Pb and related health effects in Zambia. Environmental remediation methods that should be applied locally, ways to reduce Pb exposure of the population, and issues that need to be addressed by various sectors are discussed. Environmental remediation methods using locally available and affordable materials are needed to ensure both sustainable industrial activities and pollution prevention. In the Zambian mining towns, including Kabwe, various research activities have been conducted, including environmental monitoring, human biomonitoring and health impact assessments. The town of Kabwe, which was one of Zambia's largest Pb mining area in the 20th century, continues to have formal and informal Pb-related industries and is known as one of the most polluted areas in the world. For example, despite the World Health Organization asserting that "For an individual with a blood Pb concentration ≥ 5 µg/dL, appropriate action should be taken to terminate exposure", there are reports of blood Pb levels in Kabwe children exceeding 100 µg/dL. While Pb pollution is a global issue, not many places have such continuous and comprehensive research has been conducted, and there is much to be learned from the knowledge accumulated in these areas. Because the high levels of Pb accumulation in humans and the adverse health effects were clarified, we consider that it is important to combine mining activities, which are a key industry, with measures to prevent environmental pollution.
