Semi-occupational Exposure to Lead: A Case Study of Child and Adolescent Street Vendors in Istanbul

This study analyzed lead levels in scalp hair of child and adolescent street vendors in Istanbul. The mean lead in hair concentration found among children exposed to intensive motor traffic, 11.82±6.89 μg/g, was over five times higher than that in the control group, 2.70±2.30 μg/g. Vendors from a location with higher traffic density had significantly higher lead in hair levels, than vendors from a location with lower traffic density (14.18±5.33 and 9.86±7.54 μg/g, respectively). The results pointed to the dose-response effect between traffic intensity and lead in hair concentration. Despite low lead content in gasoline, an intensive exposure to motor traffic may be a nonnegligible source of lead and poses a considerable health risk for individuals who work in particularly busy locations.