DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2016.v04i01.045

Pages: 244-250

Increased incidence of obesity, cardiovascular disorder and smoking habit between teenagers in the undergraduate’s society has highlighted on the putative role of metals in the development of chronic disorders in urban area. This study was carried out to assess the influence of obesity on lead deposition in acute (blood) and chronic (hair) storage sites among university students. 99 healthy university students, 41 nonsmokers and 58 smokers were enrolled in this study, 198 biological samples (hair and blood) were analyzed for lead levels using inductively coupled plasmaatomic emission spectroscopy. Mean lead concentration for the study population of H-Pb and B-Pb was 1.613 µg/g and 0.030 µg/L, resp., a significant correlation was demonstrated in levels of lead in hair and blood (r=0.360 p<0.001). H-Pb levels were significantly influenced by duration of smoking and body mass index (p<0.05), whereas, B-Pb levels were only significant with body mass index (p<0.05). In addition, there was an exponential increase in H-Pb and B-Pb levels in obese category in proportion of 65% in comparison with normal weight category. Furthermore, there was an increase in levels of H-Pb and B-Pb in a proportion of 32%, 23%, respectively, for smokers more than 5 years in comparison with nonsmokers group. Our data shows discern healthy environment in Jordan; B-Pb levels did not exceed 0.1 µg/L. Finally, Obesity and duration of smoking are playing a plausible role in increasing lead levels in blood and hair of the university students, which in turn may develop clinical manifestations after 10-20 years.