Resumen

PACHECO A, Rachel et al. BLOOD LEAD LEVELS AND BODY COMPOSITION IN YOUNG WOMEN EXPOSED TO WOOD SMOKE IN THE CITY OF TEMUCO. Rev. chil. nutr. [online]. 2011, vol.38, n.4, pp. 414-421. ISSN 0717-7518.  doi: 10.4067/S0717-75182011000400003.

One of the main concerns in the cities ofdeveloping countries is the coexistence of environmental pollution, malnutrition and overweight. The city of Temuco is highly polluted and the range of circulating lead of their inhabitants is unknown. The objective of this work was to study the potential association between blood lead concentration and body composition in young women (n=45) living in the city of Temuco, which were exposed permanently to wood smoke. Blood lead concentration was analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry with graphite furnace (AAS-GF) and the body composition was determined by isotopic dilution (deuterium). All participants presented high percentage offat mass (FM) and 66.7% of them had blood lead levels over the accepted international limits (5µgldl; EPA; USA), although lower than the Chilean normative (40µgldl), which were not correlated with the % of FM. The high percentage of overweight and obesity together with the lead blood levels found in this study constitute risk factors that may affect health and life quality of the participants in the medium term.

Palabras clave : Lead; body composition; obesity; Temuco city.