Lead smelter

Metallurgical (smelter) plants and spent acid decomposition plants usually produce acid of good (low) color because the SO2 feed gases ate extensively purified prior to use. In some cases, however, and particularly at lead smelters, sufficient amounts of organic flotation agents are volatilized from sulfide ores to form brown or black acid. Such acid can be used in many applications, particularly for fertilizer production, without significant problems arising. 

Volatile Organic Liquid Storage Vessels (Including Petroleum Liquid Storage Vessels) for Which Construction, Reconstruction, or Modification Commenced after July 23, 1984 Secondary Lead Smelters... 

Primary Lead Smelters Primary Aluminum Reduction Plants Phosphate Fertilizer Industry Wet-Process Phosphoric Acid Plants... 

S 111 fi 1 r-reco ve ry p lants Carbon-black plants (furnace process) Primary lead smelters Fuel-conversion plants Sintering plants Secondary metal-production plants Chemical-process plants ... 

Primary lead smelters Primary zinc smelters... 

Sulfur Dioxide Emission Rates from Primary Lead Smelters... 

Arsenic By-product of copper and lead smelters Arsenic trioxide Baghouses or ESPs... 

Cadmium By-product of zinc and lead smelters Cadmium, cadmium oxide Baghouses... 

The company manufactures lead-acid batteries at a piant in New Mexico. The company also operates a lead smelter that produces lead ingots at another location in New Mexico and ships them to the battery plant. Lead scrap from the battery plant is returned to the smelter for recovery and reuse. 

Industrial furnaces are enclosed units that are integral parts of a manufacturing process and use thermal treatment to recover materials or energy from hazardous waste. These units may use hazardous waste as a fuel to heat raw materials to make a commodity (e.g., a cement kiln making cement) or the unit may recover materials from the actual hazardous waste (e.g., a lead smelter recovering lead values). The following 12 devices meet the definition of an industrial furnace12 ... 

A study of 151 children ages 3-6 years old living near a lead smelter in town in Romania found a significant relationship between PbB concentration and NAG activity in the urine (Verberk et al. 1996). The mean PbB concentration among the children was 34.2 pg/dL. NAG activity was found to increase... 

The information available regarding the association of occupational exposure to lead with increased cancer risk is generally limited in its usefulness because the actual compound(s) of lead, the route(s) of exposure, and level(s) of lead to which the workers were exposed were often not reported. Furthermore, potential for exposure to other chemicals including arsenic, cadmium, and antimony occurred, particularly in lead smelters, and smoking was a possible confounder (Cooper 1976 IARC 1987). These studies, therefore, are not sufficient to determine the carcinogenicity of lead in humans, and the following discussion is restricted to the most comprehensive of these studies. 

In a historical cohort mortality study of 1,990 primary lead smelter workers, an SMR of 2.04 for mortality from renal cancer was calculated (Selevan et al. 1985). The cohort consisted of workers who had worked at least 1 year, with at least 1 day of employment at the smelter between 1940 and 1965. The cohort had been heavily exposed to lead and in 1976 the PbB levels averaged 56.3 pg/dL. Exposures to cadmium and arsenic were generally minor. A follow-up study of this cohort was conducted from 1977 through 1988 (Steenland et al. 1992). Analysis of the follow-up study revealed an excess of kidney cancer, particularly in the high-lead group (SMR 2.39). Although, as the authors indicate, the study is... 

Cancer. The information available on the carcinogenicity of lead in occupationally exposed humans is limited in its usefulness because the lead compound(s), the route(s) of exposure, and the levels of exposure were not always reported. Furthermore, concurrent exposure to other chemical (including arsenic, particularly in lead smelters) and confounding variables, such as smoking, were often not evaluated. Therefore, the data currently available do not support an assessment of the potential carcinogenic risk of lead in humans. 

Information on occupational exposure to lead is obtained primarily from the National Occupational Exposure Survey (NOES) and industry surveys of workers. While occupational exposure is widespread, environmental monitoring data on levels of exposure in many occupations are not available. OSHA has established a permissible exposure limit (PEL) for lead of 50 pg/m3 for workplace air (OSHA 1991). NIOSH has estimated that more than 1 million American workers were occupationally exposed to inorganic lead in more than 100 occupations (NIOSH 1977a, 1978a). According to NOES, conducted by NIOSH between 1980 and 1983, an estimated 25,169 employees were exposed to tetraethyl lead (not used in gasoline since December 31, 1995) approximately 57,000 employees were exposed to various lead oxides mostly in non-ferrous foundries, lead smelters, and battery plants 3,902 employees were exposed to lead chloride and 576,579 employees were exposed to some other form of lead in the workplace in 1980 (NIOSH 1990). Workers who operate and maintain solid waste incinerators are also exposed to air lead levels as high as 2,500 pg/m3 (Malkin 1992). 

Secondary lead smelters— standards for particulate matter blast (cupola) or reverberatory furnace <50 mg/dscm (0.022 gr/dscf) <20% opacity 40 CFR 60, Subpart L EPA 1977... 

Alexander BH, Checkoway H, van Netten C, et al. 1996. Semen quality of men employed at a lead smelter. Occup Environ Med 53 411-416. 

Boijesson J, Gerhardsson L, Schuetz A, et al. 1997. In vivo measurements of lead in fingerbone in active and retired lead smelters. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 69(2) 97-105. 

Cocco P, Carta P, Flore C, et al. 1996. Mortality of lead smelter workers with the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient phenotype. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 5(3) 223-225. 

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