Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 91–0346–2572: FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Barsan, Michael E. ; Miller, Aubrey K.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from a management representative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (SIC-9221), Quantico, Virginia, an investigation was begun into possible exposure to lead (7439921) during firearms training and certification. Noise induced hearing loss was another concern. The 16 full time firearms instructors spent approximately 30 hours a week on the ranges. One range was indoors for training, another indoor range was for gun testing, and there were also seven outdoor ranges used for training. A total of 61 personal breathing zone samples were collected, and 30 area samples for airborne lead. The airborne concentrations of lead ranged up to 51.7 micrograms/cubic meter (microg/m3) for the instructors. The range technicians were exposed to up to 2.7microg/m3, and gunsmiths were exposed to up to 4.5microg/m3. Short term exposures while the custodians cleaned the range were as high as 220microg/m3. Medical interviews and blood studies were conducted. The mean blood lead level among instructors declined from 14.6 to 7.4 micrograms/deciliter from 1989 through 1991. Significant findings of lead in the dormitory rooms of FBI students suggest that they are tracking the lead back to their living quarters. The authors conclude that a potential hazard for short term overexposure to lead existed, and there was a potential for lead exposure of families of workers. Workers may have been at increased risk of noise induced hearing loss. The authors recommend that efforts be made to increase hearing protection and reduce lead exposures.
• Subjects:
  Blood Dust Ear Environmental Monitoring Hematologic Tests Law Enforcement Lead Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs

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• Keywords:
  Air-quality-monitoring Blood-analysis Blood Lead Level Engineering Controls Hazard-Confirmed Hearing Loss HETA-91-0346-2572 Indoor Firing Ranges Inorganic Lead Law-enforcement-workers Lead-dust NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Noise Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 3 Outdoor Firing Ranges Para-occupational Exposure Police Protection Ventilation System Design

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9103462572
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Virginia ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  39 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Blythe, Ellen E.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00231110
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB96-209721
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 91-0346-2572, 1996 Apr ; :1-33
• CAS Registry Number:
  Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1996
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9211 - Courts - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7184e9a1146d1306eb5baff43b7263717c5915190ab47982a987130bbe28adc0aa356998145e86577ea89c8274d9b5a41f523963d70f014de7747710bf8dd927
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171193/cdc_171193_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 324.89 KB ]