Effectiveness in Disease and Injury Prevention: Control of Excessive Lead Exposure in Radiator Repair Workers

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Miller, Aubrey K.
• Description:
  The effectiveness of three control technologies in reducing lead (7439921) exposures in automotive radiator repair shops was summarized. Radiator repair shop use of engineering controls such as wall or roof mounted propeller fans, or electrostatic precipitators did not reduce the amount of airborne lead levels below the current OSHA permissible exposure limit of 50 micrograms/cubic meter (microg/m3). Inadequate environmental monitoring and medical surveillance for lead exposure placed the radiator repair worker at risk for lead poisoning. The exhaust ventilation control systems evaluated in this study that reduce lead concentrations below OSHA standards included a ventilated enclosure, movable exhaust hood, and a ventilated booth. Personal breathing zone samples obtained from a worker using the ventilated enclosure averaged 9.9microg/m3, compared to 453microg/m3 for a worker using an identical workstation without ventilation. Lead exposure for radiator mechanics working with a movable exhaust hood averaged 12microg/m3, while personal breathing zone lead levels were as high as 193microg/m3 for workers without the exhaust hood. The average lead exposure for repair workers using a ventilated booth system averaged 9microg/m3 compared to 98microg/m3 before the installation of the new workstation. The three exhaust ventilation systems described in this study adequately met the need for effective engineering controls in radiator repair shops. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Lead Lead Poisoning Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-control Automobile-repair-shops Automotive-industry Humans Lead-compounds Lead-fumes Lead-poisoning NIOSH-Author Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DPSE - Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• Volume:
  40
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00209358
• Citation:
  MMWR 1991 Mar; 40(8):139-141
• CAS Registry Number:
  Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d8051dd8572c0ce7fe28d9425dc3bc01ee2b588aaef46298156cca92fd843ba0369d77addca6c2279450180b0acff423a120e76e80a3b211527ad8594595bbdf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183071/cdc_183071_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 441.42 KB ]