What's New from the Occupational Health Branch
Certification standards help employers buy safer cleaning products
Cleaning products can be hazardous. They can be corrosive to eyes and skin, highly toxic, and can cause asthma and other breathing problems. Custodians, cleaners and maintenance workers are most at risk from exposure to cleaning agents. The Work-Related Asthma Prevention Program in OHB has found that work-related asthma among custodians and cleaners is double the rate in the overall workforce. OHB has also found that other building occupants get asthma from cleaning chemicals used in their workplace.
Fortunately, it is now easier to find safer cleaning products. Two independent organizations, EcoLogo and Green Seal, publish third-party certification standards for safer products. OHB participated in the development of cleaning product standards and successfully argued for the prohibition of ingredients known to cause allergic-type asthma.
View full announcement: Certification standards help employers buy safer cleaning products (PDF)
For more information on OHB work in this area, see Tracking Work-Related Asthma
Preventing worker illness from indoor pesticide exposure – new web page and resources
A bank was temporarily closed when workers became ill on the Monday following a weekend building fumigation. Six workers sought medical attention for symptoms from eye tearing to vomiting. This is just one instance in which workers became ill when pesticides were used indoors. In data collected over 12 years by OHB’s Occupational Pesticide Illness Prevention Program, nearly one out of five people who reported work-related pesticide illnesses were exposed to pesticides in indoor air.
Because workers and customers can become ill from pesticide use indoors, steps should be taken to eliminate or reduce human exposures. There are effective and safe ways to control pests without the use of sprayed pesticides. OHB’s new web pages provide information and resources for employees, employers, building management and pest control companies to prevent illnesses from the use of indoor pesticides.
Preventing worker illness from indoor pesticide exposure – new web page
Keep pests and pesticides out of your office! (PDF) – fact sheet for workers (co-produced by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation)
Managing pests and pesticides in your office (PDF) – fact sheet for employers and building managers (co-produced by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation)
Bank workers become ill after fumigation (PDF) – pesticide hazard alert
For more information on OHB work in this area, see Tracking Pesticide-Related Illness and Injury
Chromium-6 in the Workplace – Revised factsheet
Chromium-6 is a very toxic form of the element chromium that has been known to cause lung cancer for many years. Industries with a high risk of exposure to Chromium-6 include
electroplating, welding (particularly of stainless steel), spray painting and concrete work. In 1992, HESIS published the Health Hazard Alert, “Chromium-6 Causes Lung Cancer,” to address this important issue. Since that time, Federal OSHA (and subsequently Cal/OSHA) lowered the airborne limit of Chromium-6 (Permissible Exposure Limit or PEL) from 50 to 5 micrograms per cubic meter -- a 10-fold reduction -- in an effort to reduce the risk of lung cancer in workers. This revised factsheet reviews the potential harmful effects of Chromium-6, offers alternatives for specific industries and highlights newer exposure control methods, including portable exhaust hoods and welding helmets combined with powered air-purifying respirators.
Chromium-6 in the Workplace factsheet (PDF)
For more information on our work in this area, see
Providing Practical Information on Chemical Hazards
CDPH Occupational Lead Program recommends health-based improvements to OSHA Lead in Construction Standard
The Cal/OSHA lead standards are based on lead toxicity information that is now over 30 years old. Current medical information clearly demonstrates harmful effects of chronic and low-level exposures to lead in adults, levels well below those currently allowed by the standards. The CDPH Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (OLPPP) has reviewed the recent scientific information and previously made available its health-based recommendations for revising the Cal/OSHA General Industry Lead Standard for the protection of workers who are exposed to lead on the job. We are pleased to announce that OLPPP’s proposed revisions to Cal/OSHA’s Lead in Construction Standard were submitted to Cal/OSHA on April 21, 2011 and are now available.
CDPH/OLPPP Recommendations for Cal/OSHA Lead Standard Revisions
Lead in Construction Standard – Summary of Recommended Changes (PDF) – includes chart comparing triggers and requirements
Current Lead in Construction Standard with Proposed Revisions (PDF)
General Industry Lead Standard -- Summary of Recommended Changes (PDF) – trigger/requirement comparison chart added
Current General Industry Lead Standard with Proposed Revisions (PDF)
For more information on newly recognized hazards of lead in adults/workers
Recommendations for Medical Management of Adult Lead Exposure (PDF) – 2007 journal article
Indecent Exposure: Lead Puts Workers and Families at Risk (PDF) – UC Berkeley Health Research for Action, 2009 .
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