Blood Lead Levels among Gas Station Employees in Al Ajaylat City, Libya

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted in the city of Al Ajaylat, Libya, between June and August 2025. 30 randomly selected individuals from four fuel stations were selected among six fuel stations in the center of Al Ajaylat city. They provided verbal consent to give blood samples and complete a questionnaire designed to collect information on past and current medical records, including age, work duration, cigarette smoking, disease history, and total exposure time to lead. The first group (Case) was the study group, consisting of 15 fuel station workers randomly selected from those directly engaged in activities involving lead or gasoline exposure.  The second group (Control) was the control group, consisting of 15 fuel station workers selected randomly from those who do not engage in activities involving lead. Their average weekly working hours were 12, and most had worked for at least six months. Blood samples were collected for analysis, and general characteristics of participants were assessed through interviews using the questionnaire.  Exclusion criteria included participants unwilling to join the study, those younger than 15 or older than 65 years, and individuals reporting chronic diseases. Results indicate that every sample from the study group and every sample from the control group was reported as “<LOD”. As no measurable blood lead concentration data were obtained, statistical comparisons were not performed. The evaluation was therefore restricted to detection frequency, which was uniformly 0% across both groups. This finding suggests that no differences were observed between the fuel station workers study group (Case) and controls with respect to detectable blood lead levels, suggesting the absence of any measurable increase in exposure among the occupational group. The analysis showed that all blood samples in both groups were below the detection limit (1.0 µg/dL).