Occupational Lead Poisoning.

The article informs that lead may exert toxic effects on the nervous, digestive, hematopoietic, cardiovascular, and urinary systems. Because lead interferes with numerous enzymes involved in heme synthesis, anemia is a frequent manifestation of lead intoxication in children; however, it is an uncommon manifestation in adults. Occupational lead poisoning was confirmed in a storage battery worker, whose work involves use of an acetylene torch to cut and connect lead batteries. Anemia, peripheral polyneuropathy, and nephropathy were all manifestations of lead toxicity. The prognosis was unfavorable because of the delayed occurrence of lead nephropathy. This condition generally goes undetected until several years after the onset of toxic action because of the lack of a reliable biological indicator of early lead-induced kidney damage.