Blood lead levels in iron-deficient and non iron-deficient adults

Iron deficiency (ID) has been reported to increase lead absorption. This relationship has been investigated in detail in children but not in adults. This study was designed to investigate whether blood lead levels are significantly higher in iron-deficient adults. ID-parameters (haemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, serum iron, total iron-binding capacity, iron-binding saturation, soluble transferrin receptors, washed zinc protoporphyrin and ferritin) together with whole blood lead were measured in three different adult groups - blood donors (n = 73), pregnant women (n =74) and haemodialysis patients (n = 72). Of a total of 219 subjects tested, 7.7% was found to have a lead level above 10 mu g/dl (maximum 16 mu g/dl). No association was found between blood lead level and ID [iron-deficient subjects (n: 139), mean: 5.6 mu g/dl (SD: 3 mu g/dl) and noniron-deficient subjects (n: 80), mean: 5.4 mu g/dl (SD: 3 mu g/dl)]. The results suggest that the inverse association between blood lead and serum iron in studies carried out on children does not occur in adults.