Qudratullah Malik, Assad Hafeez.
Effects of Surma use and Pica on Blood Lead Levels of Pre School Children.
Pak Armed Forces Med J Jan ;49(1):18-20.

Lead is a heavy metal which gets absorbed in the human body through the gastrointestinal tract. Blood lead levels of more than 10 jig/dl are harmful for growing children. Besides leaded petrol and leaded paints, use of contaminated surma and pica could contribute to raised lead levels in blood. This study was conducted in children of Rawalpindi aged one to five years, to find out the effects of Pica and Surma application on blood lead levels. 92 children were included in this study. They were divided into three groups, those using surma Group I those with history of pica Group II and with no history of surma application or pica. There were 30 children in group 1, 29 in group II and 33 in Group III. The mean blood lead level was found to be 21.2 jig/dl and 21.25 jig/dl, in surma users and pica group, respectively. The mean blood lead levels in the control group Le nonsurma non pica group was 14.55 mcg/dI. The results were statistically significant (P value <0.051. These results suggested that in our sample of population surma application and pica causes raised blood lead levels in pre school children. Appropriate measures are suggested to control this trend.

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