[Age-dependent accumulation of lead in teeth].

Teeth from people aged 5-73 years old, who differ in their occupational type of exposure to lead and who live in different areas of Dortmund, were collected in 1980/81 and were investigated by means of flameless atomic absorption spectrometry. The major result obtained from the 163 permanent and 22 deciduous teeth studied was a statistically significant dependence of the lead content of the permanent teeth on the donor's age. This was superior to all other influences, showing an increase of 3.4% per year of life. There were no sex specific differences, and no correlations with height and body weight were found. To find different lead concentrations within samples of teeth of various living areas and various occupational types of exposure would have required more variation in these variables than was available in the population of our study. It must be emphasized that the reliability of the measured values of dental-lead concentration greatly depends upon the methodical and analytical procedures used, especially because of the overall lead contamination. The analytical method we finally used is described. The factors which influence the dental lead concentration are discussed. The investigation of whole teeth is tolerable. The age-dependent values of the lead content of teeth could be a useful indicator of the overall lead uptake especially in continuous low level lead exposure. Under the conditions described, at least 150 permanent teeth are needed to compare samples of different regions or periods.