Why use leaded coatings when you don’t have to? No lead or heavy metals amount is considered safe for humans and can have serious health consequences.
Many products are regulated for heavy metals, including lead content, like paints and coatings. This is important not only for consideration during application but also removal through manual sanding and sandblasting.
Lead poisoning can cause anemia. It can also damage the brain and nervous system, resulting in learning disabilities. It is especially harmful to children and pregnant women, as lead can settle on work clothing and be unintentionally brought into the home environment.
Because Canadian lead and heavy metal regulations do not cover industrial coatings and paint, manufacturers in this country are free to use heavy metals in their products, without consideration for the workers removing, applying, and handling their products. Nevermind also neglecting the environmental concerns with pumping more lead into the ecosystem. Safer choices are available, but many manufacturers feel improved products are not worth the research and development. Canadian workers in the sandblasting and painting industries are frequently exposed to these hazards and they do not even realize the impact.
All American paint manufacturing has been lead free since 1978.
- Environmental and Workplace Health. Health Canada. www.hc-sc.gc.ca . 2009-01-23
- Lead-based Paint. Healthy Living. Health Canada. www.hc-sc.gc.ca . 2005-10-12
How to avoid lead exposure in industrial environments:
Avoid lead dust (inhalation or consumption)
The lead in dust settles everywhere in the shop. It gets on the floor, work benches and on workers’ clothing. Moving about makes the dust rise into the air and workers breathe it in. Workers also breathe in the dust during the sandblasting process. Lead dust gets on workers’ hands. When workers eat or smoke, the lead gets on the food or cigarette and is swallowed. Workers also swallow lead dust which settles on lips, moustaches or beards
Control lead exposure from dirty work clothes
Workers should be provided with coveralls or similar full-body work clothing. Employers must ensure that workers wear coveralls, work boots, and disposable head wear. Store clothing worn at work in a different place. The change area should be separate from the shop. Work clothes, including caps, must be washed at least once a week. Contaminated clothing, which is to be sent to a laundry, must be put in a plastic bag. It must be washed separately from other clothes.
- Lead Poisoning in Radiator Repair Shops. OH&S Publications, Hazards, Alerts, Safety Bulletins. www.labour.gov.sk.ca . Feb. 10, 2010
