Lead Exposures and Biological Responses in Military Weapons Systems. Effects of Long-Term Exposure Among U.S. Army Artillerymen
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine whether measures of lead exposure or responses to lead exposure (1) were greater in artillerymen than in control servicemen or (2) increased with increasing length of service in the artillery. The measures of lead exposure were blood lead concentration (Pb-B) and bone lead concentration (Pb-S), measured in vivo by x-ray fluorescence spectrophotometry. The lead responses evaluated were increases in free erythrocyte porphyrin concentration, increases in blood pressure, and decreases in nerve conduction velocity for three motor and three sensory nerves. Although the study did not achieve planned group sizes because of early termination, the results showed that lead exposures were low in all study subjects, that artillerymen had no greater exposures or responses to lead than did military intelligence personnel as controls, and that lead exposures and responses did not increase with increasing length of service among the artillerymen. Bone lead concentrations came the closest to distinguishing between artillerymen and military intelligence controls, showing a slight increase in Pb-S values for the newer artillerymen (5-8 y of service) over the corresponding controls and slightly more control subjects than RA HI, Epidemiology, Volunteers, Lead, Weapons combustion products, Soldier performance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA275536
Entities
People
- B. G. Oltman
- D. P. Peterson
- J. H. Stebbings
- M. H. Bhattacharyya
- R. P. Larsen
Organizations
- Argonne National Laboratory