Painting Health Hazards and Their Control 1982

This is from the 1984 NIOSH video, Dual Protection (14 minutes), an excellent training tool that is still relevant today, 25 years later. It explores ways to control painter exposure to hazardous materials through the substitution of safer materials and equipment and other engineering controls, including ventilation. For more information on health and safety protection for painters, go to:
CPWR — The Center for Construction Research and Training, formerly known as The Center to Protect Workers' Rights (CPWR), a world leader in improving the health and safety of construction workers at http://www.cpwr.com/

NIOSH -- the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/

Alaska's Hazardous Paint Handlers Certification program - at http://www.cdc.gov/eLCOSH/docs/d0100/d000178/d000178.html - this requires that professional painters in Alaska be certified through a training course consists of 16 hours of instruction on the identification of hazards and the use of engineering controls, such as ventilation, and protective equipment, such as respirators, rubber gloves and "barrier creams" for the skin. A law creating the program was passed in 1989, after the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that "occupational exposure as a painter is carcinogenic," based on studies showing a consistent excess of cancer among painters. Some recent studies indicate that even the offspring of painters may be at increased risk of cancer or birth defects. Painting is sometimes called "the carcinogenic trade." Materials used by professional painters -- solvent-bearing enamels, epoxies and thinners, for instance -- can cause cancer as well as painful skin rashes, nerve damage and long-term chemical sensitivity.

Environment -- safer paint products can be good for the environment and for workers. This approach goes under several names - green chemistry, pollution prevention or toxic use reduction. Check out the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at http://www.turi.org/library/turi_publications/processes/coating_and_painting

Category:

Education

Tags:

• NIOSH
• OSHA
• Paint
• lead
• solvent
• construction
• engineering
• controls
• industrial
• hygiene
• safety

[markdcatlin]

Dear Allord,

If you had a painter sick from exposure to hazardous materials who was a family member or friend, you might be more empathetic.

Mark

[AlIord]

and WHY should I care?