Problocker, Inc., Professional Painting Spray Eyewear

Problocker, Inc.

Problocker Slit Eyewear

Ninja High Performance Spray Goggles

*Promoting "Continuous Clear Vision" without slowing down production.

Monday, December 9, 2013

PAINT TOXINS! ARE YOU PROTECTED?

General Paint Facts
Paint is toxic. It can cause minor irritation to corneal and eyelid damage. Paint chemicals are absorbed into the body through the eye.

Jack Scully Wills Eye Hospital, Jill Jones COA Patient Care Coordinator The Eye Institute of Utah

Health Hazards of Paint

Low level paint exposure can cause fatigue, eye irritation, dryness, corneal scaring, anemia, and headaches.
Higher level paint exposure can cause liver and kidney damage.
Animal studies have reported testicular damage, reduced fertility, maternal toxicity, and delayed development from exposure to glycol ethers, methoxyethanol, and other chemicals found in paint.

Weather talking about lead or toxins in paint the bottom line is that professional painters need to protect themselves.As paint toxins enter the body through breathing (inhalation), swallowing (ingestion), and absorption (skin/eye) which are common "routes of exposure".

The question remain, "How are you protecting yourself in each area?"

breathing (inhalation)
swallowing (ingestion)
absorption (skin/eye)

As one gets older, it’s interesting how people’s perspectives change due to experiences, knowledge, and time.

I recently read an article in the Cal/OSHA Reporter®, which reported that California’s Department of Health Services (DHS) had said: “Up to 10% of workers tested have elevated blood lead levels.” Then I read a linked in PaintSquare, titled "Doom and Gloom on Blood Lead Levels."

By the Numbers
Now, DHS gets blood lead level (BLL) lab reports on about 50,000 individuals each year. Of those, the agency can identify about 17,000 as work-related, or occupational, BLL tests.

Today
The lead program is charged with monitoring, tracking and evaluating Blood Lead Level (BLL) reports from labs.

From 2008 to 2011, the program received an average of about 17,500 lab reports from occupational tests annually. If numbers are the measuring point we have to add in the fact that there are probably a lot more than 17,500 workers in California.

In fact, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 17,053,000 civilian workers in California as of June 2013. So the tests received by the lead program covered only 0.1 percent of total workers.

How High is High?
Looking deeper, I considered the term Elevated. Historically, in the 1970s and 1980s, “elevated Blood Lead Levels” might have referred to workers with BLLs over 50 (µg/dl). When the OSHA construction lead regulations went into effect in the early 1990s, only those workers had to be medically removed from lead exposure.

How Does Lead get into the Body?
Most of the lead used today is inorganic lead and it enters the body through breathing (inhalation), swallowing (ingestion), and absorption (skin/eye) which are called "routes of exposure". Lead dust or particles cannot go through the skin if the skin is unbroken. The type of lead used in gasoline is organic lead and it can get through the skin.

For small children, ingestion is the main route of exposure. For bridge workers and those working with leaded paint the main route of exposure is inhalation and absorption. However, lead dust can be ingested if it is on your hands and you smoke a cigarette or eat before washing your hands.

What Happens to Lead in the Body?
Once lead gets into the body it is not used in any way to benefit the body. It is absorbed and distributed throughout the body. The amount the body absorbs depends on the route of exposure. In general, an adult will absorb 10-15% of the lead in the digestive system, while children and pregnant women can absorb up to 50%. People will absorb more lead if they are fasting or if their diet is lacking in iron or calcium.

When lead is inhaled, about 30%-50% of the particles will reach the lungs, depending on the size of the particle. Large particles land in the upper respiratory tract where they get trapped by the mucous lining and are moved out by the cilia. Unfortunately, the mucous is often swallowed, allowing these large particles to then go into the digestive system.

Smaller particles can reach deeper in the lungs and from there be absorbed into the bloodstream. This means that when there is burning or welding on lead-painted surfaces, the lead fumes can be especially dangerous. The small particles created as a fume will reach the blood if they are inhaled. Once lead is in the blood, some of it moves into soft tissues (organs such as the brain and kidneys).

The total amount of lead that is stored in the body is called the "body burden". In adults, bones and teeth contain about 95% of the body burden. Lead that is stored in the bones can leave them and enter the blood and then the soft tissue. This can damage the organs or the blood's ability to make red blood cells. This trend may increase during pregnancy, breast-feeding and osteoporosis. It can also happen when lead is removed from the blood through medical treatment called chelation.

How Long Does Lead Stay in the Body?
Lead stays in the body for different periods of time, depending on where it is. Half of the lead in the blood will be excreted in 25 days (this is called the "half-life"). In soft tissues, it takes 40 days for half of the lead to be excreted. In bones and teeth it takes much longer, up to 10 years or longer.

Since lead is stored in the body, a person can get poisoned from exposure to just small amounts of lead over a long period of time (chronic exposure). You do not need to get exposed to just large doses of lead to be poisoned (acute exposure). It can take months or years for the body to get rid of lead. A person will continue to be exposed to lead internally even after the actual exposure to lead stops.

How is Lead Measured in the Body?
Blood tests to measure the amount of lead circulating in the body were developed over 60 years ago. The results are measured in micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (the symbols used are ug/dl or mcg/dl). Because there is so much lead contamination of the environment, people who live in cities usually have blood lead levels as high as 15 ug/dl.

The blood lead test is important for you. It gives an immediate estimate of the level of your recent exposure to lead. This test will tell you how much lead is in your bloodstream, but not what is stored in your soft tissues or bones. The test will not tell you your body burden of lead or the damage, if any, that has occurred.

Another test is called the ZPP Test or zinc protoporphyrin. This test is different from the blood test in that it reflects your lead exposure over a 2-3 month period. The EP (erythrocyte protoporphyrin) test is a similar test.

OSHA
The OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL) for lead, set by the standard is 50 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air (50 ug/m3), averaged over an 8-hour workday. The interim final standard establishes an action level of 30 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air (30 ug/m3), averaged over an 8-hour workday. The action level triggers several requirements of the standard such as exposure monitoring, medical surveillance, and training.

The health protection goals of the standard state that prevention of adverse health effects for most workers from exposure to lead throughout a working lifetime requires that a worker's blood lead level (BLL, also expressed as PbB) be maintained at or below forty micrograms per deciliter of whole blood (40 ug/dl). The blood lead levels of workers (both male and female workers) who intend to have children should be maintained below 30 ug/dl to minimize adverse reproductive health effects to the parents and to the developing fetus. The measurement of your blood lead level (BLL) is the most useful indicator of the amount of lead being absorbed by your body.

Does Lead Cause Reproductive Problems in Both Women and Men?
Yes. In men, lead can damage sperm and affect the sperm's ability to move. It can affect the number of sperm that is produced in the testes. These effects on sperm can harm a man's ability to father children and have been linked to miscarriages and birth defects in their partners. These health effects can occur at 40-50 ug/dl. Some studies have also indicated that lead can affect a man's sex drive and ability to have an erection.

In women, exposure to high levels of lead may cause miscarriages, premature births, stillbirths and decreased fertility. More recently, some studies found that pregnant women with levels of lead in the umbilical cord blood of 10-15 ug/dl had children who suffer from learning and behavioral problems later in life. This is because lead in the pregnant mother's blood passes into the blood of the fetus and may affect brain development.

OSHA's policies have not generally addressed the reproductive health of workers. In the OSHA lead standards for general industry and for construction, workers must be informed of the reproductive hazards of lead, and a doctor is allowed to medically remove a worker who is pregnant or who is planning to conceive a child.

What Jobs Have a Lead Hazard?
There are many jobs that expose workers to lead. Some examples are: deleaders, firing range employees, printers, radiator repair workers, shipbuilders, workers in lead smelters, ironworkers, lead miners, plumbers, steel welders or cutters, pipefitters, industrial and construction painters.

Has the Lead in Paint Been Replaced by Safer Alternatives?
By the early years of this century, the paint manufactures had found other pigment substitutes for lead in paint. In the 1930’s, white lead began to be replaced by titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. While in 1955 the paint industry had set a voluntary standard for itself of 1% lead in interior paints, this was not always followed. As late as 1971, more that 10% of the paints tested in New York City had between 2% -11% lead content. In 1973, the federal government finally limited the amount of lead in interior pant to .5% and, in 1978, this limit was lowered to .06%.

The story for industrial paint is different. Lead is still allowed in paint for bridge construction and machinery. It is used for its ability to expand and contract with the metal surface of a structure without cracking. It is also able to resist corrosion. Unfortunately, this paint is a significant source of lead exposure. Even if its use were banned today, there would still be exposure to workers and surrounding communities for years to come due to the number of metal structures, such as bridges, that are coated with it.

Which Means...
So, rather than the lead program's doom-and-gloom conclusion that overexposure to lead is a serious occupational health problem, it looks to me like we continue to make rapid and steady progress to eliminate all vestiges of lead as a common worker health risk.

Elevated lead levels are now rare, and only one worker in 12,000 shows even the slightly elevated levels that would have been considered about average when lead was common in gasoline.

It’s a question of perspective. I certainly admit that one’s view may be impacted by who writes their paycheck, but I see real positive progress in this report. Or maybe this really is a continuing serious occupational health problem.

What’s your take?

Visit www.problocker.com and start protecting yourself a bit more today.

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www.problocker.com

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*Written by Chris Mugler - The Paint Dealer - October 2013 - Volume 22 No. 10

Problocker, Inc.

Problocker Slit Eyewear

Ninja High Performance Spray Goggles

*Promoting "Continuous Clear Vision" without slowing down production.

Friday, December 6, 2013

A Professional Painters Eyewear from Hawa-eye-i

Since we were spraying paint, we thought it was a great time to break out the Ninja Spray Goggles from our Hawaiian friends at Problocker, Inc. Problocker has been advertising with us (The Paint Dealer) for the last few months, but this was the first opportunity we had to put its goggles to the test. Designed to keep the overspray from getting into your eyes, you would be hard pressed to find a better product to accomplish these results.

Two of our three painters wore eye glasses while painting. Since they do a lot of spraying on the job, I asked them what they do about paint that gets on their glasses. They said they have to replace their glasses three to four times a year because the lenses get so scratched up from trying to clean them frequently. That is a lot of money they are spending on new glasses, so the Ninja Spray Goggles were of great interest to them!

Rick, who was doing the spraying himself, was the guinea pig, and he was very pleased with the results at the end of his spray days. A heck of a lot paint made its way onto his lenses, which means a lot less cleaning and scratching - but it also meant he was able to see clearly for a lot longer while painting and he did not have to power down to clear the paint from his eyes or glasses. Saving time and money is what pro painters are trying to do on the job.

For more information:

www.problocker.com

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Problocker, Inc.

Problocker Slit Eyewear

Ninja High Performance Spray Goggles

Monday, December 2, 2013

What happens when paint toxins get in your eye?

It's basic and true that we should all wear eye protection as all paint has a certain level of toxins. But the truth remains many of us don't wear anything or we only wear it when required. So what happens when paint gets into our eyes?

I feel this is like the cigarette commercials that aired on tv a few years ago in the US - informing people about the effects tobacco. So, over the last few weeks I've contacted the best of the best eye doctors in the US. Here are a few replies I got back:

(still awaiting from to hear from the American Optometric Association)

Varying by paint type and pH. The damage will range from minor irritation to corneal/eyelid damage. Oil and two part paint will most likely cause the most damage; however, the chemicals in latex will harm the eye. I recommend protective eyewear, non-fogging goggles to avoid any issues.
-Willis Eye Hospital

As you know from being a professional painter, paint is toxic. It can cause irritation to your eyes, dryness. As long as you flush out your eyes every time you paint, you should be ok. Flushing out your eyes will help in keeping your cornea and tear film free of the toxins.
-The Eye Institute

Whenever you work in such a way that dust, mist, fume or any other projectiles become airborne, you should be wearing eye, and possibly face, protection. There always exists the possibility of eye damage from being struck by a particle irrespective of whether it is toxic or not. The product MSDS or SDS would need to be consulted to determine what specific chemicals are present in the paints as well as what the acute and chronic health effects would be.
-OSHA / HI Gov

Bottom line: once these toxins / paint enters the eye something happens.

To say it doesn't impact or have an effect on our eye / body somehow is like pulling the trigger of a loaded gun as saying trust me nothing will happen I've been doing it for years.

Why, I am on this?

Bottom line: I want to know the truth & to flush my eyes with water after every time I spray rising concerns. Plus, I hope to clearly see my wife & grandchildren. Maybe nothing well come of this, maybe I'm just young, or maybe I am on to something.

Thanks for your interaction and thoughts.

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