US EPA

51205 

Journal Article 

Uptake of lead by inhalation of motor exhaust 

Chamberlain, AC; Clough, WS; Heard, MJ; Newton, D; Stott, ANB; Wells, AC 

1975 

1 

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
ISSN: 0080-4649
EISSN: 2053-9193 

192 

1106 

77-110 

English 

54924 

10.1098/rspb.1975.0152 

WOS:A1975BB47500006 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/76983
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Tetraethyl lead was labelled with 203Pb, added to petrol, and burnt in an
engine. The exhaust aerosol was inhaled by volunteers, usually after it
had been stored in a box, but in a few experiments directly, a few metres downwind of the engine. The percentage deposition in the lung, uptake to blood and excretion of the labelled lead were measured.
The percentage deposition in the lung depended on the length of the
respiratory cycle. For a 4 s cycle (15 breaths/min) the deposition was
35 + 2 (s.e.) %. Most of the 203Pb was removed from the lung with a half
life of about 6 h. About half of the amount deposited in the lung was in
the blood at 50 h after inhalation. A similar fraction was in the blood at
the same time after injection of 203PbO12 in saline solution. From this and other evidence it is deduced that most of the 203Pb passed from the lung to the blood plasma. About half was removed to bone and other tissues, and half became attached to red cells. From about 72 h onwards, the amount of 203Pb in blood declined with a mean biological half life of 16 d. Assuming that the same half life applies beyond the period for which measurements were made, the results can be used to predict that continuous (24 h/d) exposure to 1 Ftg/m3 of exhaust lead over a period of months will given an average contribution of about 1 Vg/100 ml to blood lead. Results of other work on experimental and industrial exposure of persons to lead in air appear consistent with this.