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12022 
Journal Article 
Blood lead and carboxyhaemoglobin levels in roadside workers 
Cooke, RA 
1986 
1 
Occupational Medicine
ISSN: 0962-7480
EISSN: 1471-8405 
NIOSH/00164063 
36 
3 
102-103 
The absorption of lead (7439921) and carbon-monoxide (630080) was evaluated in roadside workers exposed to motor vehicle exhaust. Thirteen volunteers provided blood samples for hemoglobin, blood lead, and carboxyhemoglobin measurements. Each subject worked immediately adjacent to roads with a continuous flow of traffic. The work involved cable installation or maintenance, so each individual was in or close to a manhole about 3 feet deep when at the job. No worker wore respiratory protection. Wind conditions averaged 5 to 10 miles/hour, and undue collection of exhaust fumes on the test day was not expected. One subject had performed soldering on the day of investigation. Seven of the subjects were smokers. All hemoglobin measurements were within normal ranges. The range of blood lead levels among the group was 7 to 18 micrograms/deciliter (microg/dL), with a mean of 13.1microg/dL. Carboxyhemoglobin levels ranged from 0.5 to 8.8 percent. The author concludes that none of the roadside workers had blood levels of lead or carbon-monoxide which might be considered detrimental to health. The correlation between smoking and carboxyhemoglobin levels is again demonstrated