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Safety and Health Topics:
Toxic Metals |
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Toxic Metals: Lead |
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Lead:
Secondary Lead Smelter eTool. This eTool describes ways to reduce lead exposure to employees in Lead Smelter
plants, specifically in the following operations: Raw Materials Processing, Smelting, Refining and Casting,
Environmental Controls, and Maintenance. |
Overexposure to lead is one of the most common overexposures found in industry. Lead overexposure
is a leading cause of workplace illness. Therefore, OSHA has established the reduction of lead
exposure to be a high strategic priority. OSHA's five year strategic plan sets a performance goal of
a 15% reduction in the average severity of lead exposure or employee blood lead levels in selected
industries and workplaces.
In general populations lead may be present at hazardous concentrations in food, water,
and air. Sources include paint, urban dust, and folk remedies. It is also a major potential public
health risk. Lead poisoning is the leading environmentally induced illness in children. At greatest
risk are children under the age of six because they are undergoing rapid neurological and physical
development.
Related Safety and Health Topics
Recognition
Lead is commonly added to industrial paints because of its characteristic to resist
corrosion. Industries with particularly high potential exposures include: construction work involving welding,
cutting, brazing, blasting, etc., on lead paint surfaces; most smelter operations either as a trace contaminant
or as a major product; secondary lead smelters where lead is recovered from batteries; radiator repair shops;
and firing ranges. Oral ingestion may represent a major route of exposure in contaminated workplaces. Most
exposures occur with inorganic lead. Organic (tetraethyl and tetramethyl) lead, which was added to gasoline
up until the late 1970s, is not commonly encountered. Organic forms may be absorbed through the skin, while
inorganic forms cannot.
Inorganic lead is not metabolized, but is directly
absorbed, distributed and excreted. The rate depends on its chemical and physical form and
on the physiological characteristics of the exposed person (e.g. nutritional status and
age). Once in the blood, lead is distributed primarily among three compartments –
blood, soft tissue (kidney, bone marrow, liver, and brain) and mineralizing tissue (bones
and teeth). Absorption via the GI track following ingestion is highly dependent upon
presence of levels of calcium, iron, fats and proteins.
- OSHA
Launches National Emphasis Program to Reduce Lead Exposure. OSHA Trade
News Release (2001, July 20), 2 pages. A national emphasis program aimed at
reducing occupational exposure to lead, one of the leading causes of
workplace illnesses.
- Protecting
Workers Exposed to Lead-Based Paint Hazards: A Report to Congress.
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 98-112 (1997, January). Provides extensive information on lead, including
health effects, exposure criteria, sampling and analysis, control methods, and other NIOSH recommendations.
- OSHA
Regulation 1926.62 App C. Medical Surveillance Guidelines. Contains a
detailed description of medical effects.
- National
Lead Information Center. Gathers and provides information on environmental lead
poisoning and prevention for health professionals and the public at large.
- Lead
and Compounds. EPA (2001, May 7), 9 pages. This document presents a
summary of occupational lead hazards.
- Lead
and compounds (inorganic) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), EPA Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment
(1988, March 1), 10 pages. IRIS contains chemical health risk assessments and regulatory information.
- Public
Health Statement: Lead. Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry
(ATSDR), Department of Health and Human Services (1997, August), 13 pages.
Provides exposure risks, exposure limits, and health effects.
Evaluation
Standard particulate sampling techniques are used to
evaluate lead exposures. Potential for lead ingestion can be indicated by wipe sampling.
- OSHA Sampling and
Analytical Methods. OSHA. This page provide links to information developed by OSHA including validated methods for use by the Salt
Lake Technical Center (SLTC) Laboratory.
- Chemical Sampling Information database, OSHA.
- OSHA Sampling and Analysis methods.
- NIOSH Sampling and Analysis methods.
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CDC Press Release. CDC Announces Issuance of Patent for Detecting the Presence of Lead (October, 2002).
- Lead.
International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSCs), International
Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), (2000, October 10), 3 pages. An ICSC summarizes essential
health and safety information on chemicals for their use at the "shop floor"
level by workers and employers in factories, agriculture, construction and other work
places. Cards for additional lead compounds can be located in the list
of chemicals.
- Employers who are required to perform biological monitoring for blood lead must use an
OSHA-approved blood lead laboratory for analysis.
- OSHA Approved Blood Lead Laboratories:
OSHA administers a program for approval of laboratories submitting data as required
by the OSHA
Regulation 1910.1025, and Lead Standards for General Industry.
- The American
Industrial Hygiene Association conducts a program that accredits laboratories that
perform industrial hygiene analyses. Though not a mandatory program, participation in this
accreditation may provide additional confidence in the results obtained.
- Lead in Housing and related remediation work information is
continued on a separate page.
- Also see the Safety and Health Topics page for Sampling and Analysis.
Control
Compliance
Due to amount of information, the Compliance section is
on a separate page.
Training
Other
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