The Lead Hazard in Shipbreaking: The Prevalence of Anaemia in Burners

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Abstract
Anaemia caused by the absorption of excessive amounts of lead fume in shipbreaking is a well recognised hazard which results from burning through lead painted metal with a high temperature flame. When a survey of 228 men employed in nine yards in Scotland and north-east England was carried out in 1962 there were thought to be about 400 burners employed in shipbreaking yards around the British coast. The survey was primarily concerned with anaemia (haemoglobin less than 12·5 g per 100 ml of whole blood) but lead in spot samples of urine was also estimated. Anaemia was found in 80 men (36 per cent) out of the 225 from whom a blood sample was obtained. This proportion of anaemic men is much in excess of that found in surveys of other occupational groups and is presumably largely due to the toxic effects of lead. Engineering control of the hazard has not yet been achieved so that at present protection can only be obtained by close medical supervision and withdrawal from exposure when necessary.

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