The information contained in the appendices to WAC 296-155-176 is not intended by itself, to create any additional obligations not otherwise imposed by this standard nor detract from any existing obligation.
BLL measurements show the amount of lead circulating in your blood stream, but do not give any information about the amount of lead stored in your various tissues. BLL measurements merely show current absorption of lead, not the effect that lead is having on your body or the effects that past lead exposure may have already caused. Past research into lead-related diseases, however, has focused heavily on associations between BLLs and various diseases. As a result, your BLL is an important indicator of the likelihood that you will gradually acquire a lead-related health impairment or disease.
Once your blood lead level climbs above 40 [MICRO]g/dl, your risk of disease increases. There is a wide variability of individual response to lead, thus it is difficult to say that a particular BLL in a given person will cause a particular effect. Studies have associated fatal encephalopathy with BLLs as low as 150 [MICRO]g/dl. Other studies have shown other forms of diseases in some workers with BLLs well below 80 [MICRO]g/dl. Your BLL is a crucial indicator of the risks to your health, but one other factor is also extremely important. This factor is the length of time you have had elevated BLLs. The longer you have an elevated BLL, the greater the risk that large quantities of lead are being gradually stored in your organs and tissues (body burden). The greater your overall body burden, the greater the chances of substantial permanent damage. The best way to prevent all forms of lead-related impairments and diseasesboth short term and long termis to maintain your BLL below 40 [MICRO]g/dl. The provisions of the standard are designed with this end in mind.
Your employer has prime responsibility to assure that the provisions of the standard are complied with both by the company and by individual workers. You, as a worker, however, also have a responsibility to assist your employer in complying with the standard. You can play a key role in protecting your own health by learning about the lead hazards and their control, learning what the standard requires, following the standard where it governs your own actions, and seeing that your employer complies with provisions governing employee actions.
Wash. Admin. Code § 296-155-17650
Statutory Authority: Chapter 49.17 RCW. 93-22-054 (Order 93-07), § 296-155-17650, filed 10/29/93, effective 12/10/93.