Determination of Lead and Cadmium Concentrations in the Blood of Workers at the Liquid Battery Factory in Baghdad,Applying Differential Pulse Polarography Method.

Abstract

The concentrations of Pb2+ and Cd2+ in the blood of 30 persons working in the Liquid Battery Factory in Baghdad were measured applying the Differential Pulse Polarography (DPP) method. It was found that for the majority of the blood samples, the Pb2+ concentration valueswere acceptable and within the acceptable natural limits(10-20µg/100ml).Exceptionsare 4 samples which showed higher lead ion concentrations. The infected persons worked at a location with high lead presence in the factory. As for the measured Cd2+ concentrations, the results for all the blood samples showed normal values, within the defined acceptable concentration (5.4µg/100ml). However, onconsidering the other defined acceptableconcentration, as reported in the literature, (3µg/100ml), three workmen were found, to have higher Cadmium ion concentration in their blood. It was also found that, compared with the calibrated DPP results, themeasured Atomic Absorption Spectroscopic (AAS) results showed much higher concentration values and should therefore be not acceptable. The measured concentrationsofboth ionswere independent from the age of the workers. Inspections for the presence of Cu2+ ions in the blood samples failed in detecting any traces of it.