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Executive Summary
May 1997
EPA 747-R-96-006
Lead Exposure Associated with
Renovation and Remodeling Activities:
Worker Characterization and Blood-Lead Study
Executive Summary
The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Title X) required the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a study of lead exposure associated with renovation and remodeling (R&R) activities (the R&R study). Information obtained from the R&R study is to be used to help determine which groups of R&R workers require training, certification, or educational materials because of the potential lead exposure resulting from the R&R activities they perform. This report presents the results of one of the principal data collection efforts in the R&R study: the Worker Characterization and Blood-lead Study (WCBS). The primary goal of the WCBS was to collect data and information that would permit an assessment of the relationship between R&R activities and lead exposure to the R&R workers conducting the activities. The study surveyed two groups of workers (union carpenters and employees of independent contractors) in two cities (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and St. Louis, Missouri). The collected data included
1. Worker blood samples that were chemically analyzed for lead concentration
2. Questionnaire data on demographics, the extent to which specific R&R work activities were conducted, work practices, previous training on or knowledge about lead, and non-work activities and personal characteristics that are potentially related to lead exposure.
Questionnaires were collected from a total of 585 workers. The questionnaire results indicated that:
1. The R&R workers performed a wide variety of R&R activities, and spent considerable time removing large structures and removing paint and preparing surfaces, activities with potential for creating high dust-lead exposure.
2. 90% of the workers did not use a respirator.
3. 88% of the workers did not use cleanup methods recommended for use in a lead-contaminated environment, and 99% used dry sweeping.
4. 97% of the workers used dry methods for paint removal.
5. 67% of the workers had not received any materials on lead hazards, and 87% has received no lead exposure training.
Blood samples were collected from 581 of the 585 workers. Worker blood-lead concentrations were generally low: 9.1% were above 10 µg/dL, 1.2% were above 25 µg/dL, and only one worker had a blood-lead concentration greater than 40 µg/dL. The geometric mean blood-lead concentration for all workers was 4.5 µg/dL.
A statistical model was developed and fit to the data that included effects for variables potentially related to lead exposure, such as education level, smoking status, and age of worker's home; worker group; and the amount of R&R activity conducted during the past 30 days, last year, and over the worker's career. Although blood-lead concentrations predicted by the model for each worker group studied were low, there were significant differences among the worker groups. Drywall workers and painters had the highest predicted blood-lead concentrations, and floor layers had the lowest.