Occupation and hobbies that can contribute to lead poisoning

• Children may be exposed to high lead levels when workers bring home lead on their clothing or when they bring scrap or waste material home from work.
• Hobbyists may also inadvertently expose their families to lead.

Current occupational safety and health administration standards governing lead, and the threat of lead poisoning, may not adequately protect the health of workers.

A variety of work and hobby environments expose people to lead and may result in lead exposures for their families. Occupations frequently reported to have resulted in adult lead poisoning are shown in Table 3-1. Many potential hazardous activities, like furniture refinishing and making stained glass, may be either hobbies or occupations. Other activities that may be associated with lead exposure include using indoor firing ranges, doing home repairs and remodeling, and making pottery. "Take-home" exposures may result when workers wear their work clothes home or launder them with the family laundry or when they bring scrap or waste material home from work (Grandjean and Bach, 1986).

Strict compliance by industrial operations with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSSA) General Industry Lead Standard governing lead exposures (29 CAR 1910.1026) would greatly reduce both occupational lead exposure and the associated indirect exposures in the homes of these workers. Unfortunately, not all occupational settings are covered by this regulation. Workers in construction including lead abatement workers -- are excluded from coverage under the General Industry Lead Standard; they are covered under a much weaker construction standard. Numerous workers in these work environments have been excessively exposed to lead, with construction workers particularly having a high risk of very high blood lead levels (Maizlish et al., 1990). Compliance with the OSSA comprehensive lead standard is inadequate (Landrigan, 1990; Maizlish, et al., 1990) even by those industries required to be in compliance. Furthermore, the current OSSA standard may not adequately protect the health of workers (Landrigan, 1990). OSSA plans to revise its standard within the next several years.

see also:

Lead Poisoning: Ayurvedic Meds. Lead Paint Lawyers: Poisoning from Ayurvedic Medications
Lead poisoning can occur from Ayurvedic medications

Food Lead Paint Lawyers - Food and lead poisoning
Some food-handling practices can increase lead content in foods

Lead Poisoning Other forms of lead poisoning
Lead poisoning? Trust Weitz and Luxenberg to handle your case.