Lead Regulation

Lead is a metallic element that occurs in nature. It is a notorious poison and exposure to lead reduces children s IQs. Lead exposure also causes an array of other health effects, including neurotoxicity, developmental delays, hypertension, impaired hearing acuity, impaired hemoglobin synthesis, and male reproductive impairment.  

There is no conclusive proof that lead and lead compounds cause cancer in humans, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Service s (DHHS) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, although the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified lead as a probable carcinogen and the DHHS has classified lead and lead compounds as reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens, based on animal tests and Hmited human studies.  

Children are particularly vulnerable to lead s effects because children often put their hands in their mouths, and if they have touched dust from deteriorating lead paint they will ingest lead. Children also absorb more of the lead to which they are exposed, and because their neurological systems are still developing the exposures are particularly detrimental. No safe levels of lead exposure have been established for children.  

Lead does not degrade in the environment. The EPA has described lead as persistent and virtually indestructible.  

Exposure to lead has been a health problem for centuries, and may even have contributed to the fall of Rome. Ancient Romans drank wine sweetened with a grape syrup that was made in lead pots, and a single teaspoon of this syrup was enough to cause chronic poisoning.  

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Shea EE. 1996. Lead regulation handbook. Rockville, MD Government Institutes, 240 pages. Sherlock JC. 1987. Lead in food and the diet. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 9 43-47. 

Steele MJ, Beck BD, Murphy BL, Strauss HS. 1990. Assessing the contribution from lead in mining wastes to blood lead. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 11 158-190. 

Control of Lead at Work Regulations 1998 (Lead Regulations)... 

Taylor A., Angerer J., Arnaud J., Claeys F., Kristiansen J., Mazarraza O., Menditto A., Patriarca M., Pineau A., Valkonen S., Weycamp C. (2007) Differences in national legislation for the implementation of lead regulations included in the European directive for the protection of the health and safety of workers with occupational exposure to chemical agents (98/24/EC). International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 80 254-264. 

II. Likely trends in alkylation capacity m view of gasoline lead regulations, demand patterns, etc. 

Such a historical study should then be coupled with a list of specific concerns. In the present example, some remediation and study had already been done. Thus, some of the District of Columbia s concerns focused on the extent and quality of the prior work. By phrasing the historical discoveries as concerns, the option is somewhat left open to the military as to how to alleviate the District s concerns. If the District were instead to require some specific action at the outset, it may make it difficult for the them to accept less, even if subsequent study and expert opinion deem less to be satisfactory. Finally, Congress charged the Corps of Engineers with the responsibility for remediating the sites, whereas the states were left with only being lead regulators. ... 

Finally, the Corps has promulgated Engineering Regulation 200-3-1. The FUDS Manual states that the states are the lead regulator at all non-NPL FUDS. 

The restrictions on lead under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) are just a small portion of the universe of lead regulation. This chapter is limited to an introduction to the TSCA lead programs, all of which focus on lead paint, the hazards inherent in removing lead paint, hazards from deteriorated lead paint, and renovations where lead paint is present. 

The Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule is in the regulations under the title Residential Property Renovation, and all of the TSCA lead regulations are in Part 745 of 40 C.F.R, which is entitled Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention In Certain Residential Structures. These titles are misleading because the rule covers many nonresidential structures. 

Optimum lead usage with no lead regulation, t Present U.S. standard for major refiners. 

The employer must provide examining and consulting physicians with the following specific information a copy of the lead regulations and all appendices, a description of the employee s duties as related to exposure, the exposure level or anticipated level to lead and any other toxic substances (if applicable), a description of personal protective equipment used, blood lead levels, and all prior written medical opinions regarding the employee in the employer s possession or control. The employer must also obtain from the physician and provide the employee with a written medical opinion containing blood lead levels, the physicians s opinion as to whether the employee is at risk of material impairment to health, any recommended protective measures for the employee if further exposure is permitted, as well as any recommended limitations upon an employee s use of respirators. 

This abrupt turnabout from erratic, fragmented, and problematic lead exposure and toxicity information to a systematic growth in the multiple and related databases noted above appears to spring from the recent evolution of interactive, positive feedback relationships among the areas of lead science, risk analysis, and lead regulation. These interactive relationships are positive feedback in mechanistic form in that they uniformly prompt more activity. An early depiction of an aspect of this interactive cycle was discussed by Mushak (1991) and later in a report on lead exposures in sensitive populations by the NAS/NRC (1993). 

Part 5 covers the issue of lead control and regulation in the human environment. It consists of five comprehensive chapters. Chapter 25 deals with the general aspects of regulatory initiatives and regulation of environmental lead in the United States and elsewhere. The broad topic of lead regulation is complex at multiple levels. There is the jurisdictional/govemmental level... 

The remaining four chapters in Part 5 are confined to medium-specific lead regulation Chapter 26, lead in paint Chapter 27, lead in ambient air Chapter 28, lead in drinking water and Chapter 29, lead in the human diet. 

Human health risk assessment of the type introduced above is not the only risk assessment modality operative in various areas. A second approach is that of the Precautionary Principle (see, for example, Percival 2006). The Precautionary Principle figures in health risk assessment to some extent but here it is presented for discussion within the final topic of this work, lead regulation. While this approach has been defined in various ways and often appears to be misunderstood, it basically describes a proactive, a priori, and more conservative methodology in terms of the consumer sector. This approach attempts to prevent or minimize risk of any public health and safety hazards before commercial introduction of a product occurs. Substances enter or do not enter the commercial domain based on evaluations generated beforehand. 

Legislative Aspects of Lead Regulation and Regulatory Policies... 

This chapter of the monograph is an introduction to the topic of environmental lead regulation and some scientific and regulatory scientific issues vis-a-vis Pb regulation. It also provides a brief history of legislative highlights in regulating lead in the human environment. 

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS OF GENERAL AND SPECIFIC U.S. LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES FOR LEAD REGULATION... 

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