ASSESSMENT OF LEAD RISK EXPOSURE FACTORS IN ADULT MALES IN KENYA

Abstract

The study dealt with assessment of demographic and risk factors of lead exposure by people living in Nairobi and Mathira in Kenya by use of a standard questionnaire. The study subjects were the public vehicle drivers/conductors, people working in petrol stations, street hawkers, traffic policemen, artisans, those people who spend most of their time travelling and clerks. Farmers and students from Mathira were selected as the study subjects since they were expected to be least exposed while the rest were more exposed to Pb. Two hundred informed and consented subjects (n=200) of 18-50 years filled a self-administered questionnaire. From the questionnaire, most of the male subjects were at a greater risk of exposure to Pb from various sources for example having residences near busy roads or near industries, consumption of canned foods as well as exposed foods, smoking, use of glazed ceramics among other risk factors considered in this study. The data from the questionnaire was handled using descriptive statistics. The SPSS program version 17 was used and significance level was chosen at α=0.05.