Traffic police personnel have the unenviable task of standing at busy junctions and regulating vehicular movement. The occupational hazard they face is constant exposure to polluted air. It results in elevated lead content in blood that affects all organs and functions of the body to varying degrees.
To detect the lead content in blood and provide medical treatment in cases necessary, a health camp is being held for the benefit of 3,000 traffic police personnel. Home Minister K.J. George inaugurated the camp in Bangalore on Saturday.
The camp has been jointly organised by the city traffic police, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning (NRCLP) and St. John’s Medical College.
Speaking on the occasion, NRCLP Director Venkatesh Thuppil said that before unleaded petrol was introduced in the country, a survey was done to check the lead content in the blood of traffic police personnel. The survey found that 37.57 per cent of personnel had around 25-30 micrograms of lead in their blood, which was higher than the permissible limit of 20 micrograms in adults.
Home Minister K.J. George said traffic personnel who have high lead content in their blood should be provided necessary treatment. KSPCB chairperson Vaman Acharya, City Police Commissioner Raghavendra H. Auradkar, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) B. Dayananda spoke.
