Browsing by Subject "Lead poisoning"

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    Open Access
    Heavy metals screening model in primary care: Experience in the Sierra Minera de Cartagena (Spain)
    (Elsevier, 2024-12-17) Ortega García, Juan Antonio; Francisco Díaz Martínez; Laura Rubio Roca; Isabel Martínez Frutos; Claudia Ortiz-Fernández; Maria Luisa Gil del Castillo; Francisco Pacheco Martínez; Ortega García, Juan Antonio; Cirugía, Pediatría y Obstetricia y Ginecología; Juan Antonio Ortega García; Facultades de la UMU::Facultad de Medicina
    Introduction: Soils contaminated by heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic represent a significant health risk. The Sierra Minera of Cartagena (Spain) is an area historically contaminated by mining activities. This study evaluates the exposure to heavy metals and proposes a clinical screening model for its management in primary care. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional study conducted between 2017 and 2020 with volunteers from the Sierra Minera of Cartagena who provided blood and urine samples. Primary care health professionals were trained in sample collection and analysis, risk communication, and clinical protocols on heavy metals were implemented. Results: 203 participants, 66.5% women and 38 (18.7%) under 16 years old. The majority resided in Zone 0 (contaminated area). Mean blood lead level was 1.78μg/dl and 2.22μg/dl in those under 16 years old, with. Metal concentrations, particularly lead, increased with age, male sex, Arab ethnicity, and proximity to contaminated areas. Tobacco smoke was identified as a main source of lead exposure in children under 16 years. The primary care clinical screening model identified 12 (7%) and 22 (11%) participants exceeding 5μg/dl and 3.5μg/dl respectively, particularly six children and one pregnant woman, with significant levels that normalized within 2-3 months following PEHSU's clinical guidelines. Conclusions: The implementation of clinical and analytical screening for heavy metals in primary care, supported by pediatric environmental health units (PEHSU), proved effective in screening and reducing in children blood lead levels in a short period. Training health professionals is crucial to adequately address environmental risks and protect the health of affected populations.
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    Open Access
    The institutional framework for work in the mines of Greece : occupational health and safety and the case of lead poisoning (1861-1940)
    (Universidad de Murcia, Servicio de Publicaciones, 2022) Papastefanaki, Leda
    The article investigates the historical formation of the institutional framework for work in the mines in Greece, regarding occupational health and safety. In a second level, the article focusses on the medical discourse in Greece about the specific occupational disease of lead poisoning and the role played by the state, mining companies and doctors in the recognition of the disease. The definition of lead poisoning as an occupational disease given to the miners by specialist doctors was a political issue, which was determined in historical terms. Doctors used their scientific knowledge not only as a tool for the political economy of health, but also as a mean to combat the social question by reforms and total intervention in everyday life, work and leisure of the miners. In the case of the recognition of lead poisoning, a cultural confrontation which characterized the conflict between the educated middle class and the working class in Greece, since the end of 19th century, is apparent. The sources used are mainly the legislation, state reports by the Inspectorate of Mines and medical reports.