Occupational lead exposure in Los Angeles county: An occupational risk surveillance strategy

Abstract

To better understand occupational lead exposures in Los Angeles County, we undertook a questionnaire survey of lead-using industrial facilities not previously identified by county health department staff. Previously our staff had identified 112 lead-using companies with approximately 2,000 lead-exposed workers countywide. For this survey, we developed a database of 1,353 possible lead-using industrial facilities from several sources, including community "right-to-know" databases, air pollution or sewer permit records, or other environmental databases. A questionnaire interview was completed with 1,001 (81%) of these companies, yielding 178 previously unidentified facilities employing 7,734 workers with potentially significant occupational lead exposures. Compliance with the OSHA lead standard was often poor in these facilities, particularly for workplaces with 20 or fewer employees. Devoting more public health resources to targeted identification of such industrial facilities and to educational outreach would likely help control occupational lead exposure.

Lead Exposure in Radiator Repair Workers: A Survey of Washington State Radiator Repair Shops and Review of Occupational Lead Exposure Registry Data

“…2003;45:724 -733) L ead poisoning in radiator repair workers and their families is welldocumented. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Studies of radiator repair workers in California 2 and Colorado 11 revealed that 60% and 62%, of workers, respectively, had blood lead levels (BLLs) Ͼ25 g/ dL. Radiator mechanics are exposed to airborne lead fumes when they disassemble radiators by melting solder joints using torches heated to at least 260°C (500°F).…”

The initial impact of a workplace lead-poisoning prevention project.

“…12 Exposure reduction has long been recognized as the principal means of prevention. Although the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) adopted comprehensive lead regulations in 1978, 3 occupational lead poisoning remains a serious and persistent public health problem.4 '5 From 1987 to 1990, the California Occupational Lead Registry-a laboratorybased surveillance system-received reports of 1503 adults with blood lead levels of 1.93 ,umol/L (40 ,ug/dL) or higher.6 '7 The true number of workers with blood lead above that level may be much higher, because only a small fraction of lead-exposed workers receive routine blood lead testing.8 Other workers are likely to be untested and thus unreported even if they have seriously elevated blood lead levels.…”

Occupational lead poisoning: Can it be eliminated?

“…Except in specific areas or targeted industries, as in Los Angeles County and New York City [Papanek et al, 1992;Bellows and Rudolph, 1993;Nunez et a]., 19931, few efforts have been reported of extensive educational efforts targeted at groups of employers identified through surveillance systems, with a goal of achieving reduced lead exposures.…”

“…The health care provider should be required to provide all necessary information to the laboratory as a responsibility of supervising a biological monitoring program. [Papanek et al, 1992;Bellows and Rudolph, 1993;Nunez et al, 19931. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recently closed one of the major gaps in the regulatory control of lead poisoning by promulgating a standard of lead exposure in the construction trades [OSHA, 19931. However, an integrated approach to preventing occupational lead poisoning and overexposure nationwide has not been proposed.…”