California Code of Regulations › Title 8 - Industrial Relations › Division 1 - Department of Industrial Relations › Chapter 4 - Division of Industrial Safety › Subchapter 4 - Construction Safety Orders › Article 4 - Dusts, Fumes, Mists, Vapors, and Gases › Appendix A to Section 1532.1 - Substance Data Sheet for Occupational Exposure to Lead

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
This appendix is a substance data sheet for occupational
						exposure to lead in construction. It includes information about how exposure to
						lead can affect your health.
I. Substance Identification
A. Substance: Pure lead (Pb) is a heavy metal at room
						temperature and pressure and is a basic chemical element. It can combine with
						various other substances to form numerous lead compounds.
B. Compounds covered by the standard: The word "lead"
						when used in this standard means elemental lead, all inorganic lead compounds
						and a class of organic lead compounds called lead soaps. This standard does not
						apply to other organic lead compounds.
C. Uses: Exposure to lead occurs in several different
						occupations in the construction industry, including demolition or salvage of
						structures where lead or lead-containing materials are present; removal or
						encapsulation of lead-containing materials; new construction, alteration,
						repair, or renovation of structures that contain lead or materials containing
						lead; and installation of products containing lead. In addition, there are
						construction-related activities where exposure to lead may occur, including
						transportation, disposal, storage, or containment of lead or materials
						containing lead on construction sites, and maintenance operations associated
						with construction activities.
D. Permissible exposure: The permissible exposure limit
						(PEL) set by the standard is 10 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air (10
						µg/m3) calculated as an 8-hour time-weighted
						average (TWA).
As an exception, until January 1, 2030, no employee
						conducting abrasive blasting shall be exposed to lead at concentrations greater
						than 25 µg/m3, calculated as an 8-hour
						TWA.
E. Action level: The standard establishes an action level
						of 2 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air (2
						µg/m3) calculated as an 8-hour TWA. The action
						level refers to employee exposure, without regard to the use of respirators.
						The action level triggers several additional provisions of the standard such as
						exposure monitoring, medical surveillance, training program, and signs.
II. Health Hazard Data
A. Ways in which lead enters your body. When absorbed
						into your body, lead is a toxic substance. The object of the lead standard is
						to prevent absorption of harmful quantities of lead. The standard is intended
						to protect you not only from the immediate toxic effects of lead, but also from
						the serious toxic effects that may not become apparent until years of exposure
						have passed. Lead can be absorbed into your body by inhalation (breathing) and
						ingestion (swallowing). Lead (except for certain organic lead compounds not
						covered by the standard, such as tetraethyl lead) is not significantly absorbed
						through your skin. When lead is scattered in the air as a dust, fume or mist it
						can be inhaled and absorbed through your lungs and upper respiratory tract.
						Inhalation of airborne lead is generally the most important source of
						occupational lead absorption. You can also absorb lead through your digestive
						system if lead gets into your mouth and is swallowed. If you handle food,
						beverages, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, or make-up which have lead on them or
						handle them with hands contaminated with lead, this will contribute to
						ingestion. Lead that is absorbed into your body by inhalation (breathing) and
						ingestion (swallowing) gets into your bloodstream. Once in your blood stream,
						lead is circulated throughout your body and stored in various organs and body
						tissues. Some of this lead is quickly filtered out of your body and excreted,
						but some remains in the blood and other tissues. As exposure to lead continues,
						the amount stored in your body will increase if you are absorbing more lead
						than your body is excreting. Even though you may not be aware of any immediate
						symptoms of disease, this lead stored in your tissues can be slowly causing
						damage, first to individual cells, then to your organs and whole body
						systems.
B. Effects of overexposure to lead.
(1) Short-term (acute) overexposure. Lead is a potent,
						systemic poison that serves no known useful function once absorbed by your
						body. With large enough doses, lead can kill you in a matter of days. A
						condition affecting the brain called acute encephalopathy may arise which
						develops quickly to seizures, coma, and death from cardiopulmonary arrest. A
						very high, short-term dose of lead can lead to acute encephalopathy. Short-term
						occupational exposures of this magnitude are highly unusual, but not
						impossible. Similar forms of encephalopathy may, however, arise from extended,
						chronic exposure to lower doses of lead. The most severe, often fatal, form of
						encephalopathy may be preceded by vomiting, a feeling of dullness progressing
						to drowsiness and stupor, poor memory, restlessness, irritability, tremor, and
						convulsions.
There is no sharp dividing line between rapidly
						developing acute effects of lead, and chronic effects which take longer to
						develop. Lead adversely affects numerous body systems, and causes forms of
						health impairment and disease which arise after periods of exposure as short as
						days or as long as several years. For example, short-term reproductive effects
						may include miscarriage and reduced birth weight of children exposed to lead
						during pregnancy. Both high and lower level lead exposures have been associated
						with these outcomes. Sperm abnormalities may develop at relatively high blood
						lead levels (at or above 20 micrograms of lead per deciliter of whole blood
						(µg/dl)).
(2) Long-term (chronic) overexposure. Chronic
						overexposure to lead may result in severe damage to your cardiovascular,
						blood-forming, nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. Damage to multiple
						organs may occur at blood lead levels previously thought to be without
						recognized harm. At higher lead levels, some symptoms of chronic overexposure
						include loss of appetite, metallic taste in the mouth, anxiety, constipation,
						nausea, pallor, excessive tiredness, weakness, insomnia, headache, nervous
						irritability, muscle and joint pain or soreness, fine tremors, numbness,
						dizziness, hyperactivity and lead colic. In lead colic there may be severe
						abdominal pain. Some people may not experience any symptoms even though lead is
						causing toxic effects in their bodies. It is important to note that for some
						people, permanent damage may occur even in the absence of symptoms.
Cardiovascular system (heart and blood
						circulation).
Exposure to lead may cause increased blood pressure,
						heart disease, and stroke.
Neurologic system (brain and nervous
						system)
. Exposure to lead may cause declines in brain (cognitive)
						function, slowing of nerve conduction velocity, brain damage (encephalopathy),
						and nerve damage resulting in weakness or paralysis.
Renal system (kidneys)
. Exposure to lead
						may cause declines in kidney function that can progress to kidney failure
						requiring dialysis and to death.
Reproductive system
. Chronic
						overexposure to lead impairs the reproductive systems of both females and
						males. The course of pregnancy may be adversely affected by exposure to lead
						since lead crosses the placental barrier and poses risks to developing fetuses.
						Reduced birth weight of children exposed to lead during pregnancy has been
						documented. Biological parents' lead exposure can harm the physical and mental
						development of a baby before birth. Lead exposure also may result in decreased
						fertility and abnormal menstrual cycles in females.
Exposure to lead may result in decreased sex drive,
						impotence, and sterility in males. Lead can alter the structure of sperm cells
						raising the risk of birth defects. There is evidence of miscarriage and
						stillbirth in pregnant people whose reproductive partners were exposed to lead
						or who were exposed to lead themselves.
Blood-forming system.
Exposure to lead
						also disrupts the blood-forming system resulting in decreased hemoglobin (the
						substance in the blood that carries oxygen to the cells) and ultimately anemia.
						Anemia is characterized by weakness, pallor and fatigue as a result of
						decreased oxygen-carrying capacity in the blood.
(3) Health protection goals of the standard. Prevention
						of health damage for most employees from exposure to lead throughout a working
						lifetime requires that an employee's blood lead level (BLL) be maintained as
						low as possible. The BLL of employees who intend to have children should be
						maintained below 3.5 µg/dl to minimize adverse reproductive health
						effects.
The measurement of your BLL is the most useful indicator
						of the amount of lead being absorbed by your body.
Your BLL is a measure of the amount of lead in your
						blood. This reflects both recent exposure as well as how much lead is stored in
						your bones. Past research into lead-related diseases has focused heavily on
						associations between BLLs and various diseases. As a result, your BLLs over
						time provide an important indicator of the likelihood that you will gradually
						develop a lead-related health impairment or disease.
As your BLL increases, your risk of disease increases.
						There is a wide variability of individual response to lead, thus, it is
						difficult to say that a particular BLL in a given person will cause a
						particular effect. Health damage has been found at chronic BLLs of 5
						µg/dl and greater, including high blood pressure, reduced birth weight,
						and kidney dysfunction. At the other extreme, studies have associated fatal
						encephalopathy with BLLs of 150 µg/dl, but encephalopathy may occur at
						BLLs of 80 µg/dl.
Your BLL is a crucial indicator of the risks to your
						health, but one other factor is also extremely important. This factor is the
						length of time you have had elevated BLLs. The longer you have an elevated BLL,
						the greater the risk that large quantities of lead are being gradually stored
						in your organs and tissues (body burden). The greater your overall body burden,
						the greater the chances of substantial permanent damage.
The best way to prevent all forms of lead-related health
						impairments and diseases (both short-term and long-term) is to maintain your
						BLL as low as possible. The standard is designed to detect BLL increases early
						and take action to control exposures.
Your employer has prime responsibility to ensure that the
						provisions of the standard are complied with both by the company and by
						individual employees. You, as an employee, however, also have a responsibility
						to assist your employer in complying with the standard. You can play a key role
						in protecting your own health by learning about the lead hazards and their
						control, learning what the standard requires, following the standard where it
						governs your own actions, and seeing that your employer complies with
						provisions governing their actions.
(4) Reporting signs and symptoms of health problems. You
						should immediately notify your employer if you develop signs or symptoms
						associated with lead poisoning or if you desire medical advice concerning the
						effects of current or past exposure to lead or your ability to have a healthy
						child. You should also notify your employer if you have difficulty breathing
						during a respirator fit test or while wearing a respirator. In each of these
						cases, your employer must make available to you appropriate medical
						examinations or consultations. These must be provided at no cost to you and at
						a reasonable time and place. The standard contains a procedure whereby you can
						obtain a second opinion by a physician or other licensed health care
						professional (PLHCP) of your choice if your employer selected the initial
						PLHCP.