Blood Lead Levels in Workers

LEAD Action News vol 4 no 4 Winter 1996 ISSN 1324-6011
Incorporating Lead Aware Times ( ISSN 1440-4966) and Lead Advisory Service News ( ISSN 1440-0561
The journal of The LEAD (Lead Education and Abatement Design) Group Inc.

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Blood Lead Levels in Workers

And its not only bath refinishers who can find themselves in deep water with regard to lead. Lead is ubiquitous, as the following table demonstrates the continuing problem of work related lead exposure in the USA, in that reported lead levels in adults - presumably mainly workers - have decreased only slightly in 1996.

We thank Dr Leena Gupta, Director, Central Sydney Public Health Unit for sending us the following article from MMWR , October 25, 1996. Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance - United States, Second Quarter, 1996

CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance program (ABLES) monitors laboratory-reported elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) among adults in the United States. This report presents ABLES data through the second quarter of 1996 and compares these data with the second quarter of 1995.

During April 1-June 30, 1996, the 6305 reports of BLLs > 25 µg/dL represented a 7% decrease from the 6782 reports for the second quarter of 1995

TABLE 1. Number of reports of elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) among adults, number of adults with elevated BLLs, and percentage change in number of reports - 25 states, second quarter, 1996.
Reported BLL (µg/dL)	Second quarter, 1996		Cumulative reports, 1995	Cumulative reports, 1996	% Change 1995-96
Reported BLL (µg/dL)	No. reports	No. persons	Cumulative reports, 1995	Cumulative reports, 1996	% Change 1995-96
25-39	5024	3508	10527	9978	-5%
40-49	959	674	2697	2111	-22%
50-59	224	159	554	431	-22%
> 60	98	55	236	200	-15%
Total	6,305	4,396	14,014	12,720	-9%

ABLES data also may be underreported when compared to estimates of the number of adults exposed to lead derived from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).

The findings in this report document the continuing hazard of work-related lead exposures as an occupational health problem in the United States.

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