Abstract :
Occupational exposure to hazardous metals or heavy metals has remained an issue of public health importance owing to the grave implications it has on human health. This study evaluated the effect of occupational exposure to heavy metals on the liver functions in persons working in a cable manufacturing factory in Nnewi. A total of 79 apparently healthy individuals comprising of 39 persons working in cable producing factory (test group) and 40 control participants aged between 18 and 56 years were recruited for the study. Five millilitres (5mls) of venous blood sample was collected from each individual into plain container for the evaluation of biochemical parameters. Serum total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), direct bilirubin (DB), total bilirubin (TB), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities were assayed for using standard laboratory methods. Results showed significant increases in the AST (27.552.08 Vs 9.150.13) and ALP (238.3724.40 Vs 20.700.48) activities and in levels of TP (7.820.27 Vs7.100.04) and DB (4.140.30 Vs 2.670.07) in cable factory workers when compared with the control subjects (p0.05). Furthermore, gender differences were observed in the values of DB, AST, and ALP compared with control. Results also showed no significant effects of age and length of service (LOS) on the liver function status of factory workers studied. Thus, this study revealed no liver impairment among the cable factory workers studied as a result of occupational exposure. This could be attributable to the short term duration of exposure of the factory workers.
Keyword :
Occupational exposure, Heavy metals, Liver, Liver functions, Cable factory, Age, LOS, Gender.