Bathroom doors, a water cooler handle, a refrigerator – their surfaces carried lead, cadmium and other hazardous metals, according to studies at two e-scrap facilities.
The health hazard evaluations, which were conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), also found metals and flame retardants on employees hands, in their bodies and in the air. In many cases, the levels were below occupational limits, but in some, concentrations were above.
“The known over-exposures to lead and cadmium as well as other metals are our primary health concern for the electronic scrap recyclers,” Catherine Beaucham, who was involved in both studies, told E-Scrap News.
And concerns extended beyond worker health.
“We also found metals on employees’ hands immediately before they left work at the end of the day,” according to one report. “Take-home lead can contaminate cars and homes, and potentially expose family members.”
NIOSH, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), conducted both studies at the request of facility managers, who worried about employee exposure to hazardous metals and flame retardant chemicals. Industrial hygiene testing involved surface testing as well as hand wipes, blood draws, urine samples air samples and more.
