Lead and Cadmium Overexposure in Ohio Battery Recycling Facility

EMSL Analytical tests for lead and cadmium in environmental samples.

WEBWIRE – Monday, July 30, 2012

A battery recycling facility in Lancaster, Ohio has been cited for 14 serious safety and health violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA. The company’s total projected fine is $59,400.

Some of the serious violations included exposing workers to lead levels that were eight times the exposure limit, as well as cadmium levels that were more than twice the exposure limit. According to OSHA, a “serious violation” is one in which there is substantial probability that death or serious harm may occur.

Other violations included neglecting to establish engineering controls and apply work practice controls to maintain these exposure levels, laxity in monitoring exposure levels on a regular basis, and failure to evaluate the facility’s ventilation system and put into place an efficient respiratory protection program.

The NYC Department of Health lists these adverse health effects of long term lead exposure to adults: kidney damage, high blood pressure, reproductive damage, nerve disorders, miscarriage, premature births, and brain damage. Short term symptoms of adult lead poisoning are headaches, stomach cramps, loss of appetite, constipation, fatigue, trouble sleeping, irritability, and muscle or joint pain.

Cadmium poisoning can lead to high blood pressure and age-related macular degeneration, as well as cancer of the lung, breast, and kidney.

“The health hazards caused by lead and cadmium are well-documented and can be severe in adults, especially those who suffer repeated occupational exposure,” states Shannon Kauffman, Metals Laboratory Supervisor at EMSL Analytical, Inc. “At EMSL, we offer accredited lead and cadmium testing at locations across the country.”

For more information on EMSL’s testing services, please contact EMSL at (800) 220-3675, visit www.EMSL.com, or email info@EMSL.com .

About EMSL Analytical, Inc.
EMSL Analytical, Inc. is a full service testing company providing quality lab services under the same private ownership since 1981. Including the corporate lab facility in Cinnaminson, NJ, EMSL Analytical operates over thirty laboratories nationwide in the US and Canada. We provide analytical services for environmental, indoor air quality (IAQ), industrial hygiene, forensics and materials science, consumer products, food safety, PCR, pharmaceutical, asbestos, lead, and radiological samples. The company has an extensive list of accreditations from leading organizations, as well as state and federal regulating bodies.