In-vivo tibial lead measurement to assess the health hazard of Venezuelan workers

Gamma-ray induced X-ray emission (GIXE) technique for elemental lead in-vivo tibial measurement using a large volume hyper pure germanium detector is presented with the most convenient source-sample-detector geometry. The system operates advantageously when several parameters are considered for a lower dead time operation. The detection limit (DL) is better that 3.5 mug/g of Ca. Results of in-vivo average tibial lead concentration for some of the monitored groups are: control 7 mug of lead per g of Ca; gasoline filling attendants 6 mug/g of Ca; custom office workers near the DL; industrial workers range from DL up to 84+/-3 mug/g of Ca, suggesting that lead accumulation in the bone does not represent a major health risk.