According to a study conducted by Dr. Dajer Acra, a high percentage of workers in factories which work with, or produce car batteries, scrap metal, paint, iron, ceramics, welding materials, refrigeration or anything related to leaded fuel have alarming levels of lead poisoning. Of 1,016 workers employed in such factories, more than 50% showed traces of lead in their blood. More than 3.5% had an incidence of 40 micrograms of lead per deciliter, and 8.5% had an concentration of over 50 micrograms of lead per deciliter.
Dr. Acra also conducted a study of 150 children 12 years old or younger, which revealed that 25% had more than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter, 10% had more than 20 micrograms and 2% had more than 30. The tolerable level of lead in the bloodstream is only 10 micrograms.
Dr. Acra called on industrialists to take greater safety precautions in the factories, and on the government to enforce the safety regulation, suggesting the creation of a “free zone” in the city for the types of industries with high concentrations of lead, to keep greater control over the lead emitted.