Premium
Occupational lead exposure in Los Angeles county: An occupational risk surveillance strategy
Author(s) -
Papanek Paul J.,
Ward Carolyn E.,
Gilbert Kathleen M.,
Frangos Stephen A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700210209
Subject(s) - environmental health , medicine , outreach , occupational hygiene , occupational exposure , occupational safety and health , public health , occupational medicine , lead (geology) , lead exposure , lead poisoning , nursing , cats , pathology , geomorphology , psychiatry , political science , law , geology
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.