丝瓜视频

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丝瓜视频 Environmental Health and Safety

Spotlight on Safety

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1 | JANUARY 2025

Lead Awareness

Lead is a heavy metal that naturally occurs in the Earth's crust and can be found in all parts of our environment, including the air, soil, and water. In the workplace, lead can be found in a wide variety of products such as paints, ceramics, pipes and plumbing materials, solders, gasoline, building materials, and batteries. While it has some beneficial uses, it can also be toxic to humans.

The 丝瓜视频 Lead Management Program complies with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations and provides information to ensure you understand the hazards associated with lead, where lead may be present in your workplace, and the precautions necessary to ensure your safety and the safety of our community members and environment. 

Get trained

If your job exposes you to potential lead hazards, ensure you are up-to-date on your annual Lead Awareness training in myHR Learn.

Health effects

According to OSHA, lead overexposure is one of the leading causes of workplace illnesses in the United States. Lead-containing dust generated during construction, repair, or renovation activities can enter the body primarily through two methods:

  • Ingestion (e.g., eating, drinking, and smoking) via contaminated hands, clothing, and surfaces
  • Inhalation (e.g., breathing in lead-containing dust and fumes)

Lead exposure can cause health effects such as anemia, headaches, tiredness, irritability, and nausea. More serious health effects are damage to the kidneys, nervous system, and brain. Lead exposure is particularly dangerous to children and pregnant women.

OSHA sets limits on the amount of lead you can be exposed to in the air to prevent the absorption of harmful quantities of lead.

Lead-containing paint

Here at 丝瓜视频, the primary lead hazard on campus involves the disturbance of lead-containing paint. While modern paint does not contain lead, paint must be assumed to contain lead in buildings constructed before 1978 and must be tested prior to any activities that may disturb it (e.g., sanding, cutting, or scraping). 

Deteriorated (e.g., peeling, chipping, chalking, or cracking) lead-containing paint must be stabilized or removed to eliminate any potential hazards. However, lead-containing paint in good condition does not typically present a health hazard and may be left in place so long as it won't be damaged or disturbed.

Work practices

A lead compliance plan must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) for any activities that disturb lead-containing materials to ensure regulatory compliance. Such work may only be performed by trained and qualified individuals with the appropriate precautions and personal protective equipment (PPE), such as respirators. Learn more here.

EHS, in partnership with Facilities, proactively surveys campus buildings to identify lead-containing paint to support maintenance, repair, and renovation projects. If your project may disturb lead-containing paint, please contact ehs@northwestern.edu.

Safety tips

  • Never disturb lead-containing materials unless you are trained and qualified
  • Assume paint in buildings constructed before 1978 contains lead
  • Inform your supervisor if you suspect your work area contains lead hazards
  • Wash your hands frequently and avoiding eating or drinking in work areas
  • Adhere to the (SDSs) when welding or soldering with materials that contain lead or contact EHS if one is not available

Safety at home

If your home was built before 1978, it is more likely to have lead-containing paint and it could be under layers of newer paint. If the paint is in good condition, the lead-containing paint is usually not a problem. To keep your family safe:

  • Regularly inspect and keep all painted surfaces in good condition; pay particular attention to surfaces that children or animals can chew or that get a lot of wear and tear, such as windows and sills, doors and door frames, stairs, railings, banisters, and porches
  • Clean up dust frequently with a wet cloth or paper towel
  • Consult a certified lead professional before beginning renovation, repair, or painting projects or if potentially deteriorating lead-containing paint is discovered

Do you want to learn more?

  • Review the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
  • Contact the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) team at ehs@northwestern.edu
  • View past Spotlight on Safety discussions here

We want your feedback! Please complete this brief anonymous . Do you have a safety story you'd like to share? If so, please contact ehs@northwestern.edu.