Notes from the Field: Occupational Lead Exposures at a Shipyard — Douglas County, Wisconsin, 2016

Abstract

On March 28, 2016, the Minnesota Poison Control System was consulted by an emergency department provider regarding clinical management of a shipyard worker with a blood lead level (BLL) >60 µg/dL; the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health defines elevated BLLs as ≥5 µg/dL (1). The Minnesota Poison Control System notified the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Concurrently, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (WDHS) received laboratory reports concerning two workers from the same shipyard with BLLs >40 µg/dL. These three workers had been retrofitting the engine room of a 690-foot vessel since January 4, 2016. Work was suspended during March 29-April 4 in the vessel's engine room, the presumptive primary source of lead exposure.

Integrating Childhood and Adult Blood Lead Surveillance to Improve Identification and Intervention Efforts

“…In 2016, the Wisconsin (WI) CLPPP and ABLES program, in coordination with the Minnesota (MN) CLPPP and ABLES program, investigated high levels of lead exposure among workers at a shipyard in Superior, Wisconsin near the MN border. 8 Renovation work that involved cutting, burning and welding areas that contained lead paint began in 2015 on a 690-foot carrier vessel in the shipyard. In March 2016, an emergency department provider consulted the MN Poison Control System about a worker with a BLL >60 µg/dL and the MN Poison Control System notified the MN Department of Health (MDH).…”

“…Of the 357 workers identified, 233 (65.3%) completed blood tests: 73.4% had BLLs ≥5 µg/dL (the current CDC’s case definition for an elevated BLL), 64.8% had BLL ≥10 µg/dL, 14.2% had BLLs ≥40 µg/dL and two had BLL ≥60 µg/dL (median=16.0 µg/dL). 3,8 A jointly administered survey identified 341 household members with potential secondary exposures. Only 46 (13.5%) household members were able to be tested; none had BLLs ≥5 µg/dL.…”