Blood lead levels in Chicago day laborers

Background: Day labor in Chicago, as in other cities, is a growing phenomenon. Workers waiting to be picked up on street corners are often immigrants with few job skills. Our previous work revealed that most day laborers perform construction jobs including demolition and rehabilitation. They rarely receive training in occupational safety. Performing demolition and rehabilitation without proper safety equipment may expose workers to lead dust. Our objective was to assess blood lead levels in day laborers hired for construction. Methods: Our relationship with a worker center facilitated the identification of hiring sites and the recruitment of participants. Sites included a street corner, the parking lot of a “big box” home improvement store, and the worker center. Volunteers completed a questionnaire then underwent venipuncture for blood lead. Results: There were 92 participants, all male, mostly foreign born Latinos. The geometric mean of blood lead was 3.8 mcg/dl. There was significant risk (p<0.05) for performing window removal or installation in the past month. Two participants had levels of 21 and 43 mcg/dl and were referred for medical evaluation. According to NHANES 1999-2002 the mean blood lead level for adults is 1.5 mcg/dl. For Mexican American men it is 2.3 mcg/dl. Conclusions: Overall, blood lead levels were not as high as expected. However, the mean was over twice the NHANES mean for adults. This study is the first to assess the day labor population for lead poisoning. This vulnerable population is likely at risk of other occupational hazards and should be studied further.