Objective To measure the urinary lead level and identify its influencing factors in students of a middle school in Jinzhou,Liaoning Province.
Methods Using cluster sampling method,one class was randomly selected from each of Grade 7-9 of a randomly picked junior high school in Jinzhou.A total of 137 students were recruited and invited to a questionnaire survey,and their morning urine samples were also collected to determine urinary lead level by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.
Results The median of urinary lead levels was 55.300 μg/L.The median values for boys and girls were 48.704 μg/L and 56.450 μg/L respectively,but no gender difference was found (P > 0.05).The 12,13,14,and 15 years old age groups' urine lead medians were 34.535,57.870,55.300,and 73.100 μg/L,respectively.The level of lead in the 15 years old age group was significantly higher than that of the students aged 12 or 13 years old (P < 0.05).Older age,parental smoking,decoration of living environment,and eating street snacks frequently contributed to higher urinary lead levels;but eating fruit frequently and drinking milk contributed to lower levels.
Conclusion The middle school students' urine lead levels might be associated with living environment,drinking water and living habits,and parental factors.
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