Field evaluation of a portable blood lead analyzer in workers living at a high altitude: a follow-up investigation.

Background: Field-portable instruments can offer expeditious analytical results to health professionals in field settings and in areas lacking laboratory infrastructure. This study further evaluated an electroanalytical field-portable instrument, which rapidly analyzes blood lead concentrations.

Methods: A portable anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) instrument was evaluated utilizing paired samples from 243 employees working at an elevation of approximately 3,800 meters in Peru.

Comparison of capillary earlobe and venous blood monitoring for occupational lead surveillance.

Biological monitoring for occupational lead exposure involves routine venous blood draws from exposed employees. This uncomfortable procedure normally yields more blood than what is needed for analysis. Capillary blood sampling is less invasive but introduces the possibility of surface contamination.

Effect of perchloroethylene, smoking, and race on oxidative DNA damage in female dry cleaners.

Perchloroethylene (PERC) is used widely as an industrial dry cleaning solvent and metal degreaser. PERC is an animal carcinogen that produces increased incidence of renal adenomas, adenocarcinomas, mononuclear cell leukemia, and hepatocellular tumors. Oxidative DNA damage and lipid peroxidation were assessed in 38 women with (dry cleaners) or without (launderers) occupational exposure to PERC.

Surface sampling methods for Bacillus anthracis spore contamination.

During an investigation conducted December 17-20, 2001, we collected environmental samples from a U.S. postal facility in Washington, D.