Exposure of Preschoolers to Lead in the Makati Area of Metro Manila, the Philippines

A study was conducted in the Makati area of Metro Manila, the Philippines. The study evaluated the significance of playground soil lead intake to the total daily lead burden in preschool children. The lead concentration was measured in residential playground soils, food, water, and hair samples by atomic absorption spectrometer and the data were used to draw conclusions. All of the playground soils were contaminated with lead levels ranging from a minimum of 34.54 μg/g to a maximum of 283.13 μg/g in comparison to the naturally occurring lead level of 15 μg/g in soils. Further, the study conducted a lead analysis on the hair of the study population to determine the accumulated lead intake. Ingestion of 25 mg/day of soil contributed to 4% of the total lead intake per day by children exposed to the study sites. Food (83%) was found to be the major source of lead compared to other sources. The study also includes economic valuation and cost benefit analysis from reducing lead in gasoline.