Concentration of cobalt in the blood serum of workers at fuel stations and its impact on some hematological parameters in Al-Nasiriyah city center of Thi-Qar province southern of Iraq

Cobalt is an heavy metal which important for many biological systems and living organisms, including human, which need it in a small quantities. There is a close relationship between vehicle emissions and fuel stations and cobalt so this study was designed to measure concentration of cobalt element in the blood serum of workers at fuel stations in Al-Nasiriyah city center of Thi-Qar province, and investigating the effect of this element in some blood parameters such as hemoglobin (Hb.), packed cell volume (PCV.), platelets (PLTs.), red blood corpuscles (RBCs.) and white blood corpuscles (WBCs.). It is found the concentration of cobalt in the blood serum of workers (0.027) ppm is higher than its concentration in the blood serum of the control group serum (non-detected- ND. ≤0.004 ppm). The results show that there is decreasing in must blood parameters in workers except Hb., which has a little rising compared with its value in the control group. While PCV. PLTs., RBCs. and WBCs. record low values compared with control group, there is significant difference between workers and control samples group with PCV. and WBCs. at level P≤0.05.