Assessment of Lead Contamination via Soil and Water in Addis Ababa Daycares
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Date
2023-04
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Lead exposure can come from different environmental media soil, water and air impose negative
health effects if ingested by humans, children’s are the most vulnerable. The objective of the
study were to investigate i) lead level in water and soil of daycares facilities in Addis Ababa, ii)
lead level in water sources (both surfaces and ground water) that supply water sources to Addis
Ababa city. Graphite Furnaces Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy were used to analyze the
concentration of lead in soil and tap water of 28 day cares. Samples were taken from 11 sub
cities, sample size were determined based on the number of daycares in each sub city. Sample
from sources (ground and surfaces) of water supply were also analyzed. The result indicated that
the mean level of lead in soil and water of day cares were 2.37 and 8.26μg/l are within the
permissible value of 10μg/L according to WHO standard. The result from sources of water
shows that the lead level in surfaces water sources before treatment were above the permissible
value (10μg/L ) whereas the ground water sources were within in the acceptable limits .
Integrated exposure uptake bio-kinetic model were used to determine the blood lead level of
children’s below 4 year of age. The mean blood lead level were 1.78μg/dl. Even if the BLL were
below the blood reference value of 3.5μg/dl (according to CDC) there is no safe blood lead level
value low lead level can have adverse effects in children. Lead level in drinking water from
daycare centers is greater than the lead concentration from water sources this shows that there is
sources of lead in between water sources and daycare tap water.
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Keywords
Lead exposure, Blood Lead Level, Water, Soil, Daycare, Addis Ababa