Richard Rabin

• MassCOSH

In Massachusetts over 25,000 temporary workers perform low-wage industrial and commercial work. They toil in jobs with unpredictable schedules, dangerous working conditions, a lack of workers’ compensation, and extremely low pay or even nonpayment of wages. The presentation will cover state legislation as a strategy to address the problem and des...

The Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) was established to encourage the reduction of hazardous substances in industry through planning and technical assistance. Between 1991 and 2007 a significant reduction in the use of lead in manufacturing, has been accomplished. The Massachusetts Occupational Lead Poisoning Registry receives blood lead repor...

Background: In recent years do-it-yourself ceramics studios have become quite popular. Customers, who are often young children, decorate pre-fired ceramic pieces with a non-lead paint or underglaze. Studio personnel then cover the pieces with an overglaze, which may contain lead, and then fire them again. Health department investigations and at lea...

Approximately 60% of the housing units in Massachusetts have lead paint, and surface preparation for painting of lead-painted houses can generate extremely high lead exposures. Although OSHA regulations require blood lead (BL) testing under such circumstances, relatively few house painters are tested in Massachusetts or elsewhere. An exception occu...

Lead pipes for carrying drinking water were well recognized as a cause of lead poisoning by the late 1800s in the United States. By the 1920s, many cities and towns were prohibiting or restricting their use. To combat this trend, the lead industry carried out a prolonged and effective campaign to promote the use of lead pipes. Led by the Lead Indus...

Elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) in adults can damage the cardiovascular, central nervous, reproductive, hematologic, and renal systems. The majority of cases are workplace-related. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that BLLs among all adults be reduced to < 25 microg/dL. The highest BLL acceptable by standards of the U.S. Oc...

Lead poisoning, the oldest recognized occupational disease, remains a danger for children and adults. Data collected for 664 cases reported to the Massachusetts Occupational Lead Registry in 1991-1995 were summarized in a 1998 state report. Here, the authors present some of the key findings from that report for a wider audience. The authors summari...

Although the construction industry until recently was exempt from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration General Industry Lead Standard, including its medical monitoring provisions, periodic blood lead tests have been required for residential "deleaders" and structural painters in Massachusetts. Sixty-three percent of the 381 registrants...

Child lead poisoning has been a major public health issue only for the last 20-25 years. However, awareness that lead-based paint is a source of lead poisoning in children dates back to the first few years of the twentieth century. Articles in medical journals and textbooks appeared in the United States and elsewhere, recounting cases of children p...

To the Editor.— In the editorial note to the article "Lead Poisoning—Associated Death From Asian Indian Folk Remedies—Florida,"1 there were listed a number of potential sources of lead poisoning in children that should be investigated. Two important sources that you omitted were soil and dust. The latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Con...