A new publication from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) offers recommendations to protect workers from potentially harmful job-related exposures to lead. The report summarizes 31 investigations by NIOSH in work settings ranging from bridges and shipyards where lead particles were generated by abrasive blasting, to an Army depot where employees were exposed to lead from solder in repairing night goggles and laser range finders.
Findings from the 31 investigations illustrate that:
- Workers may be at risk of potentially hazardous exposures anywhere lead is present on the job, not just in traditional settings like shipyards and battery manufacturing plants. For example, the NIOSH investigations confirmed worker lead exposures in a remodeling project where old paint was sanded from a historic house, and at a hospital radiation laboratory where radiation-shielding molds were made.
- Workers’ families may also be at risk from lead dust or particles inadvertently carried home on the worker’s clothing or skin, or from lead materials that are used in some home-based businesses such as electronic component repair.
- Often, lead exposures can be significantly reduced through simple, inexpensive measures, such as basic improvements in ventilation and use of good work practices.
Copies of “Health Hazard Evaluations: Issues Related to Occupational Exposure to Lead, 1994 to 1999,” DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2001-113, are available from NIOSH at 800/35-NIOSH (800/356-4674), or online.
