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Contents
Page last reviewed: 05/30/2008
Highlights
  • Hurricane Preparedness and Response. OSHA. Includes information such as news releases, public service announcements, fact sheets, frequently asked questions, and more.
  • Lead - Secondary Lead Smelter. OSHA eTool. Describes ways to reduce lead exposure to employees in lead smelter plants, specifically in the following operations: raw materials processing, smelting, refining and casting, environmental controls, and maintenance.
Lead

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Lead

Lead overexposure is one of the most common overexposures found in industry and is a leading cause of workplace illness. Therefore, OSHA has established the reduction of lead exposure to be a high strategic priority. OSHA's five year strategic plan sets a performance goal of a 15% reduction in the average severity of lead exposure or employee blood lead levels in selected industries and workplaces.

It is also a major potential public health risk. In general populations, lead may be present in hazardous concentrations in food, water, and air. Sources include paint, urban dust, and folk remedies. Lead poisoning is the leading environmentally induced illness in children. At greatest risk are children under the age of six because they are undergoing rapid neurological and physical development.

Lead hazards are addressed in specific standards for the general industry, shipyard employment and the construction industry.

OSHA Standards

This section highlights OSHA standards, effective dates for enforcement of the lead standard, preambles to final rules (background to final rules), Federal Registers (rules, proposed rules, and notices), directives (instructions for compliance officers), and standard interpretations (official letters of interpretation of the standards) related to lead in the general industry and shipyard employment.

Note: Twenty-five states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have OSHA-approved State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies. For the most part, these States adopt standards that are identical to Federal OSHA. However, some States have adopted different standards applicable to this topic or may have different enforcement policies.

General Industry (29 CFR 1910)

Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915)

Effective Dates for Enforcement of the Lead Standard

  • May 7, 1997 - The stay on 29 CFR 1910.1025(e)(1) was lifted, and six years later (May 2003) all employers had to be in compliance with all the requirements of the standard.

  • Jun 29, 1981 - The Supreme Court denied the petition and dissolved its 1980 stay, leaving the partial stay 29 CFR 1910.1025(e)(1) used by the Appeals Court on August 15. This meant that all the other provisions of this standard had been in effect.

  • August 15, 1980 - The Court of Appeals issued its decision upholding the standard, lifting the stay except for 29 CFR 1910.1025(e)(1) as it applied to certain industries.

  • December 8, 1980 - Pending the filing and disposition of industry's petitions for a review, the US Supreme Court issued a stay of the same provisions that were issued in March 1979 by the US Court of Appeals.

  • March 1, 1979 - The Court of Appeals stayed a number of the provisions including the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1025(i) for the consideration of new facilities and renovation of existing facilities, pending a full review.

  • November 14, 1978 - The standard was promulgated and immediately challenged by both industry and labor. All changes were consolidated in the US Court of Appeals.

Preambles to Final Rules

Federal Registers

Directives

Standard Interpretations

Construction

For information related to construction, see OSHA's Lead - Construction page.

Health Effects

Lead adversely affects numerous body systems and causes forms of health impairment and disease that arise after periods of exposure as short as days (acute exposure) or as long as several years (chronic exposure). The frequency and severity of medical symptoms increases with the concentration of lead in the blood. Common symptoms of acute lead poisoning are loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, constipation, difficulty in sleeping, fatique, moodiness, headache, joint or muscle aches, anemia, and decreased sexual drive. Acute health poisoning from uncontrolled occupational exposures has resulted in fatalities. Long term (chronic) overexposure to lead may result in severe damage to the blood-forming, nervous, urinary, and reproductive systems. The following references provide  information on the health effects of lead.

Exposure Evaluation

Standard particulate sampling techniques are used to evaluate lead exposures. Potential for lead ingestion can be indicated by wipe sampling. The following links provide information regarding methods and means used to evaluate lead hazards.

Lead in Housing (including remediation)

  • Lead in Paint, Dust, and Soil. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Provides information on environmental lead poisoning and prevention for health professionals and the public at large.
  • The HUD Guidelines. US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Title X. Provides detailed, comprehensive, technical information on how to identify lead-based paint hazards in housing and how to control such hazards safely and efficiently.

  • About Lead-Based Paint. US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Provides access to regulations and documents related to lead in public housing.

  • Laboratories performing analyses in support of Title X surveys should be accredited under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program. There are currently two organizations that provide this accreditation:

Hazards and Solutions

The most effective way to protect workers is to minimize their exposure through engineering controls, good work practices and training, and the use of personal protective clothing and equipment, including respirators, where required. Engineering controls include material substitution, isolation, process/equipment modification and local ventilation. Some fundamental and easily implemented work practices are good housekeeping, appropriate personal hygiene practices, periodic inspection and maintenance of process and control equipment, proper procedures to perform a task, and appropriate supervision to ensure that the proper procedures are followed. The following references provide possible solutions in controlling and preventing lead hazards in the workplace.

Additional Information

Related Safety and Health Topics Pages

Other Resources

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