Lead in the Americas A Call for Action (1996) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 117-144
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From page 117... ...
CHAPT~ ER 4 Working Group Summaries
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From page 119... ...
Each working group was charged with identifying specific action steps that could be tailored by participants to regional, federal, or local needs, as required, to reduce human lead exposure in the hemisphere. The members of each working group met for six hours over a two-day period.
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From page 121... ...
The group summarized its deliberations according to the following construct: What to do: Phase out lead in gasoline. How to do it: Restrict the use of lead by consensus regulation, while ensuring the appropriate supply of sufficient substitutes to meet octane requirements (without excess environ mental impacts.
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From page 122... ...
Nevertheless, a national policy of lead reduction in motor fuels as a goal for air quality improvement requires considerably more information to be both effective and to achieve public acceptance. The motor vehicle fleet in a given country represents a range of octane requirements in the fuels that power it.
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From page 123... ...
There is also the onetime problem of purging an entire system for handling leaded fuels to be able to handle unleaded fuels. Of particular concern is the major task of cleaning the sludge from storage tanks that had been used for leaded gasoline.
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From page 125... ...
Public Health Service regards lead-based paint, and the contaminated dust and soil it generates, to be the principal source of elevated blood lead levels in 1.7 million U.S. children between the ages of 1 and 5 years.
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From page 126... ...
Field surveys provide information on lead present in paint already applied to surfaces, and production records and import-export data could be used to assess the extent of leaded paints currently in the marketplace. The working group recognized that the quality of records is likely to be highly variable, with many records incomplete or suspect.
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From page 127... ...
Little is presently known about the weathering or aging of lead-glazed tiles, although there is evidence that leaded dust on floors is among the strongest predictors of children's blood lead levels. Another building practice that should be examined is the use of scavenged waste materials, such as old battery casings or tires.
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From page 128... ...
Finally, the group noted that substitutes for lead-based paint are readily available for both residential and commercial uses at about the same cost, and that it would be far more costly to permit the continued use of lead-based paint, with the consequent hazard controls needed in later years. While such control measures have been shown to be effective in reducing children's blood lead levels, it would be far more inexpensive to avoid use of leaded paints in the first place.
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From page 129... ...
The use of EGC is well-documented as an important source of lead for women of reproductive age in Mexico. In a study reported recently, women who used EGC for cooking and storage of foods had blood lead levels 3 fig/ d!
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From page 130... ...
In Latin America, producers of EGCS are predominantly ~croindustries, which are frequently family businesses in which the entire family is involved in the production process, and it is this householdwide participation that makes these industries economically viable. The involvement of family members in production activities and the high levels of lead contamination of the home environment seen in many instances, however, puts women and children at particular risk of chronic lead poisoning.
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From page 131... ...
Also, the markets in which many home products are sold are often in small, unregistered stores, which are typically mobile, and thus difficult to regulate. The working group concluded that even large-scale industries that produce EGCS In Latin America and the Caribbean Basin would be difficult to regulate because of a lack of adequate legislation; even more important is the absence of the human and physical infrastructure required to ensure compliance with established norms.
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From page 132... ...
132 Sectors Government LEAD IN THE AMERICAS: A CALL FOR ACTION Pathways |source of lead | I Distributer I ~3 1 l Scientific Mill pro and academic Medium Small (women and organizations , children) ~{~a~ Unions and potters' organizations Areas of Intervention | Consumer | - Technological - Economic - Sociocultural - Legislation - Public health Figure 4-1.
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From page 133... ...
* Working group participants agreed that in order to properly address the issues of lead in industrial and occupational health, it would be necessary to complete a preliminary inventory of industries and economic activities associated with occupational exposure to lead with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean.
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From page 134... ...
The working group identified a number of potential strategies for reducing population lead exposures, with the following emerging as themes: · the substitution of lead in industrial processes and the reconversion of corresponding industries; · standardization or technical normalization of biological and environmental monitoring in the workplace; education and training in support of "the right to know, to participate, to transparency"; the necessity of technical support to implement prevention and control activities in industrial hygiene, infrastructure of occupational health, communication of risk, and human resources; · provision of incentives, training, andlinanc~ng for standardized research on prevention and control of lead poisoning across the Americas; · improvement of conditions of work in microindustries and reduced paraoccupational exposure to lead; · expansion of training of experts in occupational health in order to strengthen human resources, especially in the Caribbean Basin and Latin America.
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From page 135... ...
Lead exposure reduction in the industrial sector should be a priority in discussions with international donors. The working group recommended that government also provide adequate health care for workers exposed to lead; it was recognized that an organized strategy is required to support step-by-step modification of the structure of occupational health services and other relevant, longer-term occupational health objectives.
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From page 136... ...
The working group recommends development of standardized occupational and environmental policies on lead poisoning prevention that are standardized across the Americas. Policies should be directed toward primary prevention, identification, and timely treatment of lead poisoning when it occurs, and toward appropriate compensation for cases of incapacitation from lead poisoning.
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From page 137... ...
FOOD The main sources of lead in food are leaded solder in food cans; lead glazes used on foodware; leaded fuel and industrial emissions that can reach food * Canadian Network of Toxicology Centres, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada *
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From page 138... ...
The working group felt that initial progress toward this end could be achieved first through an inventory of such potential sources. Strategies for reducing lead exposures from specific categories of sources could then be addressed as a first option by collaborative alliances among industry, government, community-based action groups, and labor unions.
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From page 139... ...
. The working group concluded that the responsibility for reducing lead exposures in the home environment lies with the community itself, specifically the individual households.
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From page 141... ...
In any case, goals should be set at the beginning of the program and may include case-finding, monitoring population trends, evaluating the efficacy of interventions, generating data to persuade policymakers, and education. Both biological sampling and environmental sampling may be important components of lead surveillance programs.
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From page 142... ...
Lead surveillance programs need certain guidelines and procedures to function efficiently and equitably. Examples discussed in the workshop included reference levels for lead in food, water, and other media; in the occupational setting, workers who are tested must be guaranteed that their medical confidentiality will be protected, and that the finding of an elevated blood lead level will result in removal from exposure, .
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From page 143... ...
Groups of special importance in this regard are practicing pediatricians; occupational health physicians; and state, local, and provincial public health authorities.
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