目的：台灣的新住民女性人口越來越多，健康的需求相形重要。由於重金屬鉛是慢性且具有全身性的危害，應加以重視。本研究乃分析嘉義縣新住民女性的血鉛濃度分布狀況，並探討與血鉛濃度有關的因素。
方法：以橫斷式的研究設計，與嘉義縣衛生局合作舉辦健康檢查活動，自2010年7月至2011年8月底止，期間蒐集新住民女性血液生化值與重金屬鉛數值，並以結構式問卷透過受訓練的訪員訪視取得與環境鉛暴露、主要飲水來源、其他可能與鉛有關的健康行為等資料。排除缺少血液生化值或無問卷資料者後，共有986名新住民女性納入樣本分析。
結果：新住民女性血鉛濃度因居住的地理區位有明顯的差異，血鉛濃度是居住近山(2.58±1.02μg/dl)或近海鄉鎮者(2.49±0.98μg/dl)比居住於平地者(2.32±1.02μg/dl)高。有喝酒習慣、來台後的主要飲用水源非自來水、尿酸濃度高皆與血鉛濃度有顯著的關係(p<0.05)。居住的地理區位和主要飲用水源有交互作用的影響，即居住於近山鄉鎮者體內血鉛濃度會因飲用水源為非自來水，而較居於平地飲用自來水者，高出1.10倍(b=0.092, SE=0.03, p=0.002)。各區域間血鉛的相關因素不一，但並未發現與環境鉛暴露有關的因素，而是與飲水行為、生理狀態的表現有關。
結論：本研究發現新住民女性血鉛濃度會因所居地落後偏遠而有較高的現象，本研究建議有關當局研擬新住民女性健康發展計畫時，需長期觀察重金屬鉛濃度變化，特別是偏遠山區的新住民女性。
Objective: The health of marriage-based immigrant women becomes a public concern in Taiwan, given on the rapid increase in their number in recent decades. A large proportion of immigrant women live in rural areas, where the risk for long-term lead exposure is higher than urban areas. Thus, in the present study the aim was to investigate the blood lead levels in immigrant women and to examine the related factors such as living places by geography, health behaviors with the blood lead levels.
Methods: This study used a cross-sectional study design. The study subjects were recruited from regular health examination campaigns hold by the Health Bureau of Chia-Yi Country during 2010-2011. With obtaining subjects’ informed consents, the data were collected by conducting face-to-face interviews with questionnaires and collecting blood specimens. After the exclusion of invalid information or missing values on the subjects, the analytical sample size in this study is 986.
Results: The immigrant women blood leadconcentrations were different among residential locations. The women livingin close to mountain regions (2.58±1.02μg/dl) or close to coast regions(2.49±0.98μg/dl) had higher blood lead concentrations than those living in flat regions( 2.32±1.02μg/dl). Being a regular alcohol user, not to use running water as a major source of drinking water , high uric acid concentrations were significantly related to blood lead concentrations (p<0.05). In addition, residential locations have an interaction effect with the drinking water resource on blood lead concentrations. No measured exposure factors in the working or living environments around the subjects were found to significantly related to blood lead concentrations.
Conclusion: In this study, the findings suggested that immigrant women living in less urbanized areas tend to have higher blood lead levels than those living in urbanized areas. Therefore, while developing and implementing health promotion and education programs to immigrant women should emphasize the strategies targeted to reduce the Urban-rural disparity in health for this disadvantaged population.
