California Code of Regulations › Title 8 - Industrial Relations › Division 1 - Department of Industrial Relations › Chapter 4 - Division of Industrial Safety › Subchapter 7 - General Industry Safety Orders › Group 16 - Control of Hazardous Substances › Article 109 - Hazardous Substances and Processes › Appendix A to Section 5198 - 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. 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 at least 120
						  different occupations, including primary and secondary lead smelting, lead
						  storage battery manufacturing, lead pigment manufacturing and use, solder
						  manufacturing and use, shipbuilding and ship repairing, auto manufacturing and
						  repair, painting, printing, working with scrap metal, and working with firearms
						  or ammunition.
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).
E. Action Level: The standard establishes an action
						  level of 2 micrograms 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 initiates several requirements of the standard,
						  such as exposure monitoring, medical surveillance, a 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 females 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 employee blood lead levels (BLL) be maintained as low as
						  possible. The BLLs 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 on 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 PLHCP of your choice if the employer selected the initial
						  PLHCP.