Certified Industrial Hygienists Can Help Prevent Cases of Lead Poisoning

Last month, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) announced that they had issued recommendations to prevent lead poisoning among children in developing nations.  The recommendations, based on a case study of several developing parts of the world, has been released in the form of a reference document.  It was developed by the AIHA International Affairs Committee in collaboration with the International Task Force for Children’s Environmental Health.
 
The AIHA announcement of the new recommendations states, “In many developing countries, exposures to lead in the environment during childhood have been underestimated.  In the regions investigated in the case study, the mean blood lead levels (BLL) for children exceeded 20 micrograms of lead per deciliter (µg/dL), and in some instances, the levels exceeded 100 µg/dL. The recent recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce the reference level for children’s BLL from 10 µg/dL down to 5 µg/dL reflects an opinion within the expert community that significant health and behavioral problems from lead in blood may result at even lower levels than previously anticipated.” 
 
Exposure to lead in the home, workplace and from contaminated environments due to industrial processes and the past use of lead is a significant concern in many developing parts of the world and is still even an issue in developed nations. Lead continues to be a problem in many older buildings due to its past use in paints. 
 
“Identifying lead hazards and reducing exposure is vital for preventing lead poisoning in children and adults,” said Tracy Parsons, CIH, Administrative Program Manager at ABIH. “ABIH supports the efforts of AIHA in reducing lead poisoning and Certified Industrial Hygienists are uniquely qualified to help in these efforts.  CIHs are trained and experienced in sampling techniques, engineering and exposure controls, work environments and risk analysis to minimize exposure risks due to lead.” 
 
To learn more about the American Board of Industrial Hygiene, the CIH program or to locate CIHs across the globe, please visit www.ABIH.org, email abih@ABIH.org or call (517) 321-2638.
 
About the American Board of Industrial Hygiene
Since 1960, ABIH, a not-for-profit corporation, has been the world’s largest, premier organization for certifying professionals in the practice of industrial hygiene. ABIH is responsible for ensuring high-quality certification including education, experience, examination, certification maintenance and ethics enforcement.  Currently, more than 6700 people are certified to use the CIH designation.

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