Protecting people: lead-acid battery safety information
While the battery industry is the world's largest consumer of lead in the world, the chief sources of lead in the environment-and lead exposure to people-have been transportation, paint, and storage and preparation of water and food. In other words, leaded gasoline, leaded paint, lead glaze on pottery, lead in water pipes and fixtures, and lead solder. Association with these products and their issues have led to several lead-acid battery myths, making lead-acid batteries one of the most misunderstood products of our time.
Industry commitment to lead-acid battery safety has lead emissions from battery manufacturing accounting for less than one percent of the country's total estimated lead emissions, even though battery manufacturing accounts for more than 80 percent of lead usage in the country.
There are only two ways for the body to take in lead: either by ingestion or inhalation. Lead is not usually absorbed through the skin or hair.
Lead in the body is measured by the amount of lead in the blood and sometimes in the bone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], the level of concern is for children whose blood lead measures 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of whole blood. Parents should look at the child's environment to see if there are any sources of lead, such as old leaded paint. If a child has a level of 15 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, parents should look at the child's home, school and play environments and their own jobs, hobbies or other situations that could expose the child to lead. For more information on children and lead, go to the CDC Web site on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA] threshold for adult workers in battery plants is 50 micrograms of lead per deciliter of whole blood. A worker who tests at a 50 will be moved to a different job in the facility until his or her blood lead level falls. The employee will be counseled and monitored to keep the blood level below the OSHA threshold.
Through a voluntary agreement made with OSHA in 1996, Battery Council members have been working to reduce the 50 microgram medical removal threshold to 40 micrograms within the next five years to continue lead-acid battery safety efforts.. Blood testing is an important tool for people who are regularly exposed to lead.
As a result of a voluntary industry effort, Battery Council members have achieved substantial reductions in the blood lead levels of their workers, whose levels now average far less than this 50 microgram target. This success reflects continuing capital investment and emphasis on employee work practices and education.
Battery manufacturers and recyclers have education programs and health maintenance programs for their employees, backed up by regular blood lead testing efforts. Regular monitoring of blood lead levels allows a physician to track the success of lead-reduction programs. Test results are a critical tool in the employees' health management programs.
In the workplace, ventilation systems and technology help protect workers. But good work habits and good hygiene are equally powerful protectors for adults in the workplace.
Lead-acid battery safety - how lead is controlled at battery plants:
Air Filters and Scrubbers
To keep microscopic particles of airborne lead emissions to a minimum, manufacturers and recyclers use high-efficiency air filters and wet scrubbers to filter plant air before it is released into the atmosphere. The filters are inspected and replaced regularly. The filters also are equipped with alarms, and the process is shut down or re-routed should a filter tear or break.
Clean Water
Manufacturers and recyclers capture and treat process water to keep lead out of streams and rivers. The water is tested before it is released to be certain it meets clean water standards.
Clean Air
At recycling plants, air monitors are installed at the perimeter of each property to make sure any lead in the air is below the allowable limit. The limit is 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air, averaged on a quarterly basis. This is an extremely conservative limit. To illustrate just how stringent this requirement is, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA] says a worker inside a plant may be safe even if exposed to 50 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air every day.
Work Practices
Children can be exposed to lead when a parent who works at a lead plant carries dust home on shoes or work clothes, or in the worker's hair. OSHA regulations require workers in high-lead-exposure areas of the plant to leave work clothes and shoes there and to shower and wash their hair before going home. They also require workers in high-lead areas of the plant to wear a respirator, a device that filters lead particles out of the air a worker breathes. Education programs train workers to wash thoroughly before eating or smoking during lunch or breaks, and to practice other habits that safeguard their health.
Fugitive Emissions
Plants have a regular program of exterior vacuuming or washing down paved areas and capturing and treating rainwater runoff. Vehicles that transport lead products typically are hosed down before leaving a facility so that any dust on tires or the vehicle body is not carried to public roads.