Construction workers at risk of unintentionally exposing families to
multiple toxic metals

Date:
February 18, 2022
Source:
Boston University School of Medicine
Summary:
A new study provides evidence that construction workers, in
particular, are at high risk of inadvertently tracking a host of
other toxic metals into their homes. The study identifies and
measures the highest number of metals --30-- in construction
workers' homes, to date.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A range of work and home-related factors, such as not having a work locker
or a place to launder work clothes, can impact the level of toxic metal concentrations that workers track from their worksites to their home.


========================================================================== Take-home exposures -- toxic contaminants that are unintentionally
brought from the workplace into the home, exposing children and other
family members -- are a documented public health hazard, but the majority
of research and interventions have focused on take-home exposure to
lead. Much less is known about take-home exposures to other harmful
metals.

Now, a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health
(BUSPH) researcher provides evidence that construction workers, in
particular, are at high risk of inadvertently tracking a host of other
toxic metals into their homes. The study identifies and measures the
highest number of metals -- 30 - - in construction workers' homes,
to date.

Published in the journal Environmental Research, the findings reveal that,
in addition to lead, construction workers had higher levels of arsenic, chromium, copper, manganese, nickel, and tin dust in their homes, compared
to workers in janitorial and auto repair occupations. The study also
found that overlapping sociodemographic, work, and home-related factors
can affect metal concentrations in the dust of workers' homes.

This new data underscores the need for more proactive and preventative
measures that reduce these harmful exposures at construction sites.

"Given the lack of policies and trainings in place to stop this
contamination in high-exposure workplaces such as construction sites,
it is inevitable that these toxic metals will migrate to the homes,
families, and communities of exposed workers," says study lead and corresponding author Dr. Diana Ceballos, an assistant professor of environmental health and director of the Exposure Biology Research
Laboratory at BUSPH. "Many professions are exposed to toxic metals at
work, but construction workers have a more difficult job implementing
safe practices when leaving the worksite because of the type of transient outdoor environments where they work, and the lack of training on these topics." To better understand the sources and predictors of take-home
exposure of metals dust, Ceballos and colleagues from BUSPH and Harvard
T.H. Chan School of Public Health recruited 27 Greater Boston workers
to participate in this pilot study from 2018-2019, focusing primarily
on construction workers, but also including janitorial and auto repair
workers. To assess the metal concentrations in workers' homes, the
researchers visited the homes and collected dust vacuum samples, issued questionnaires to the workers about work and home-related practices that
could affect exposure, and made other home observations.

The researchers found that higher concentrations of cadmium, chromium,
copper, manganese, and nickel were associated with a range of
sociodemographic and work- and home-related factors, including lower
education, working in construction, not having a work locker to store
clothes, mixing work and personal items, not having a place to launder
clothes, not washing hands after work, and not changing clothes after
work.

Further compounding the issue, Ceballos says, is that many construction
workers live in disadvantages communities or substandard housing that
may already contain toxic metals.

"Given the complexity of these issues, we need interventions on all
fronts - - not only policies, but also resources and education for these families," she says.

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========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Diana M. Ceballos, Zhao Dong, Junenette L. Peters, Robert
F. Herrick,
Paridhi Gupta, John D. Spengler. Metals dust in workers' homes
and potential for take home in the Greater Boston area: Pilot study.

Environmental Research, 2022; 209: 112893 DOI: 10.1016/
j.envres.2022.112893 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220218153039.htm

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