International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology Vol-7, Issue-4; Jul-Aug, 2022 Journal Home Page Available: https://ijeab.com/ Journal DOI: 10.22161/ijeab Peer Reviewed ISSN: 2456-1878 (Int. J. Environ. Agric. Biotech.) https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijeab.74.21 186 Cardiopulmonary function, quality of life, musculoskeletal pain and serum lead level of welders in Enugu, Nigeria Charles Ikechukwu Ezema 1 , Chidubem K Nwafulume 2 , Chigozie Uchenwoke 3 , Canice C Anyachukwu 4 , Jovita Ada Daniel 5 , Martins Nweke 6 , Onyenekenwa Cyprian Eneh *7 1 Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Email: charles.ezema@unn.edu.ng 2 Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Email: mnwafulume@gmail.com 3 Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Email: ucheman99@gmail.com 4 Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Email: canice.anyachukwu@unn.edu.ng 5 Department of Prosthetics and Orthotics, School of Health Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria. Email: jovita.daniel@futo.edu.ng 6 Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Email: martins.nweke@gmail.com 7 Institute for Development Studies, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Email: onyenekenwa.eneh@unn.edu.ng * Author for correspondence: Eneh, Onyenekenwa Cyprian, Institute for Development Studies, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Email: onyenekenwa.eneh@unn.edu.ng Received: 23 Oct 2021; Received in revised form: 15 Nov 2021; Accepted: 30 Nov 2021; Available online: 27 Aug 2022 ©2022 The Author(s). Published by Infogain Publication. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Abstract— The study related serum lead level to cardiopulmonary function, quality of life and musculoskeletal pain of welders in Enugu, Nigeria. Snowball sampling technique was adopted to reach over 100 Enugu resident welders. The first 100 who met the inclusion criteria and gave their consent to participate in the study were sampled. The welders’ serum lead level was 0.522μg/dl (0.06-1.26 μg/dl). The welders had prevalent low back pain and a very high quality of life for the domain of physical health with a score of 94, and high psychosocial and social relationship domains for quality of life with the scores of 69 and 75 respectively. About 64.2% of the welders had an elevated systolic blood pressure above 120mmHg and 52.6% had diastolic blood pressure elevated above 80mmHg, while only 3.2% of the welders had pulse rates above 100 beats per minute. The mean values for lung function were FVC = 1.43, FEV1 = 1.13 and PEF = 1.61. The significant relationship between serum lead levels (FVC, FEV1 and PEF) could be attributed to lead inhalation. The significant relationship between serum lead levels and low back pain and knee pain could be attributed to lead’s effect on the musculoskeletal system. Keywords— cardiopulmonary function, quality of life, musculoskeletal pain, serum lead level, welders. I. INTRODUCTION Welding is a very important process used for joining metal. With the quick development of science and industry, welding is used in more production fields, and the number of welders is increasing. Welders are exposed to many occupational hazards, including welding fumes, leading to serious occupational health problem all over the world. Lead affects major organ system in the body including hematopoietic, gastrointestinal, respiratory, renal, nervous and cardiovascular mainly through