Abstract
A fifteen-year program of screening potentially hazardous lead exposures throughout a steel plant is presented, with correlating urinary lead and urinary coproporphyrin values. Of 925 urines analyzed in this manner, only four showed no visible fluorescence, indicative of normal coproporphyrinuria, and corresponding lead values in excess of 0.20 mg of lead per liter of urine. An additional 7,232 urines were examined only for coproporphyrin. They produced no visible fluorescence indicating urinary coproporphyrin and thus were not analyzed for urinary lead. The use of the coproporphyrin test to aid in the study of the overall lead exposure produced by a scrap-burning operation plus screening of individuals for urine lead analyses is described. A total of 2,529 urines were tested for coproporphyrin, and of these 442 were also analyzed for urine lead. These figures are included in the totals previously given.