Potential Health Risks from Recurrent Lead Exposure to DOD Firing Range Personnel

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Lead is a ubiquitous metal in the environment, and its adverse effects on human health are well documented. Lead interacts at multiple cellular sites and can alter protein function in part through binding to amino acid sulfhydryl and carboxyl groups on a wide variety of structural and functional proteins. In addition, lead mimics calcium and other divalent cations, and it induces the increased production of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species. Adverse effects associated with lead exposure can be observed in multiple body systems, including the nervous, cardiovascular, renal, hematologic, immunologic, and reproductive systems. Lead exposure is also known to induce adverse developmental effects in utero and in the developing neonate.

Lead poses an occupational health hazard, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) developed a lead standard for general industry that regulates many workplace exposures to this metal. The standard was promulgated in 1978 and encompasses several approaches for reducing exposure to lead, including the establishment of a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 50 μg/m3 in air (an 8-hour time-weighted average [TWA]), exposure guidelines for instituting medical surveillance, guidelines for removal from and return to work, and other risk-management strategies. An action level of 30 μg/m3 (an 8-hour TWA) for lead was established to trigger medical surveillance in employees exposed above that level for more than 30 days per year. Another provision is that any employee who has a blood lead level (BLL) of 60 μg/dL or higher or three consecutive BLLs averaging 50 μg/dL or higher must be removed from work involving lead exposure. An employee may resume work associated with lead exposure only after two BLLs are lower than 40 μg/dL. Thus, maintaining BLLs lower than 40 μg/dL was judged by OSHA to protect workers from adverse health effects. The OSHA standard also includes a recommendation that BLLs of workers who are planning a pregnancy be under 30μg/dL.

In light of knowledge about the hazards posed by occupational lead exposure, the Department of Defense (DOD) asked the National Research Council to evaluate potential health risks from recurrent lead exposure of firing-range personnel. Specifically, DOD asked the National Research Council to determine whether current exposure standards for lead on DOD firing ranges protect its workers adequately.The committee also considered measures of cumulative lead dose. Potential Health Risks to DOD Firing-Range Personnel from Recurrent Lead Exposure will help to inform decisions about setting new air exposure limits for lead on firing ranges, about whether to implement limits for surface contamination, and about how to design lead-surveillance programs for range personnel appropriately.

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198 pages · 6 x 9 · paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-26736-6
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-26737-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/18249

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National Research Council. 2013. Potential Health Risks to DOD Firing-Range Personnel from Recurrent Lead Exposure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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David C. Dorman

David C. Dorman (Chair) is Professor of Toxicology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University. His research is directed towards understanding human health risk assessment for environmentally relevant chemicals. It is primarily focused on the respiratory toxicology, neurotoxicology, and pharmacokinetics of environmental agents. He has served on several NRC committees, include serving as chair of the Committee on Emergency and Continuous Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Submarine Contaminants and current service as a member of the Committee to Review the Draft IRIS Assessment on Formaldehyde. Dr. Dorman received his D.V.M. from Colorado State University and his Ph.D. in veterinary biosciences and toxicology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology and of the American Board of Toxicology.

Susan H. Benoff

Susan H. Benoff was formerly director of the Fertility Research Laboratories at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. She also held positions as associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York University School of Medicine, and director of the Molecular Biology Laboratories, Division of Human Reproduction, in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at North Shore University Hospital. Her research interests are in male infertility and testicular cancer, with emphasis on the role that environmental exposure to heavy metals and compounds with hormone-like activity may play in the causes of these disorders. She has been an active member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, most recently serving as chair of the Environment and Reproduction Special Interest Group. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology, and a Member of the Council of the American Society of Andrology. Dr. Benoff received her PhD in cell biology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University.

Edward C. Bishop

Edward C. Bishop was formerly vice president at Parsons Government Services. He has diverse experience in the areas of industrial hygiene, environmental compliance, emergency response, and risk assessment. He had a 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force, where he held a number of positions, including senior bioenvironmental engineering program manager in the Office of the Air Force Surgeon General. In that position, he developed and managed occupational health, industrial hygiene, and environmental protection programs worldwide. Dr. Bishop has served on several NRC committees, including the Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels and Committee on Toxicological Risks to Deployed Military Personnel. He received his MS in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his PhD in environmental health sciences from the University of California, Berkeley.

Margit L. Bleecker

Margit L. Bleecker is director of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Neurology in Baltimore, Maryland. Her research interests are in clinical industrial neurotoxicology and occupational neurology. Dr. Bleecker was a member of the NRC Committee on Tetrachloroethylene and the IOM Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides. She received her PhD from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and her MD from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. Dr. Bleecker is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Lisa M. Brosseau

Lisa M. Brosseau is associate professor in the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Her research interests are in the performance of respiratory protection devices, aerosol measurement, filtration, and health and safety interventions. Dr. Brosseau is a former chair of ACGIH’s Chemical Substances Threshold Limit Value Committee and past-chair of the organization’s Board of Directors. She has been on several NRC committees, including the Committee on Full System Testing and Evaluation of Personal Protection Equipment Ensembles in Simulated Chemical and Biological Warfare Environments. She received her MS and ScD in industrial hygiene from Harvard University, and is certified by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene.

Rose H. Goldman

Rose H. Goldman is associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and is an occupational and environmental medicine physician at the Cambridge Health Alliance. Her research interests are in neurotoxicity, metals, pediatric environmental health, and innovative education in environmental and occupational medicine. Dr. Goldman was a member of two IOM Committees on Gulf War and Health, which evaluated potential health effects from exposure to pesticides and Sarin, the NRC Committee on Handling and Disposal of Biohazards from the Laboratory, and the NRC Committee to Review the OMB Risk Assessment Bulletin. She received her MD from the Yale University School of Medicine and her MS and MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Joseph H. Graziano

Joseph H. Graziano is professor of environmental health sciences and pharmacology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. His research career has been devoted to understanding the consequences of exposure to metals, both on the molecular and population levels. Dr. Graziano’s past research was devoted to lead poisoning, which has contributed to understanding of the adverse effects of lead exposure on childhood development. More recently, his research is aimed at understanding the consequences of arsenic exposure on the Bangladeshi population, and on devising strategies to reduce toxicity. Dr. Graziano received his PhD from Rutgers University.

Sheryl A. Milz

Sheryl A. Milz is chair and associate professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the University of Toledo, and is a certified industrial hygienist. Her research interests are in human exposure assessments, risk assessment, and environmental and occupational epidemiology. Before joining the university, she was an industrial hygienist and safety and occupational manager at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital, where she gained experience evaluating firing ranges for lead exposure and ventilation requirements. Dr. Milz has been active in the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). She was chair of the AIHA Exposure Assessment Strategies Committee, and currently serves on the ACGIH Agricultural Safety and Health Committee. She received her MS in preventive medicine (epidemiology) from Ohio State University and her PhD in public health sciences (industrial hygiene) from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Sung Kyun Park

Sung Kyun Park is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He also has a joint appointment in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. His research interests are in the health effects of environmental exposures, such as air pollution, heavy metals (including lead, cadmium, and mercury), bisphenol-A, and noise, in aging populations. Health end points of interest are cardiovascular outcomes (hypertension, heart rate variability, homocysteine), lung function, and age-related disease (type-2 diabetes, hearing loss, osteoporosis, cataracts). Dr. Park received his MPH in environmental health from Seoul National University and his ScD in environmental epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Mark A. Roberts

Mark A. Roberts is a principal scientist and center director for Occupational and Environmental Heath at Exponent. He has a wide range of experiences in clinical occupational and environmental medicine, as well as epidemiological studies of health complaints in communities and industrial settings. His professional training also covers a broad spectrum from public health to corporate medicine. His 17 years of experience in the Oklahoma State Department of Health brings practical public health expertise. His corporate experience includes serving as corporate medical director of BP. Dr. Roberts received MD and MPH and PhD in biostatistics and epidemiology from the University of Oklahoma. He is licensed by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Occupational Medicine.

Brisa N. Sanchez

Brisa N. Sanchez is assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her research interests are in statistical methodology applicable to environmental and social epidemiology, and health disparities. Her methodological work involves developing robust fitting procedures and diagnostics for structural equation models and using these methods in applications to environmental health problems, such as in utero lead exposure and its effect on child development. Dr. Sanchez received her MS in statistics from the University of Texas at El Paso, and her MSc and PhD in biostatistics from Harvard University.

Brian S. Schwartz

Brian S. Schwartz is professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He also is co-director of the university’s Program on Global Sustainability and Health, and co-director of the Joint Geisinger-Johns Hopkins Environmental Health Institute. His research applies the methods of occupational, environmental, and molecular epidemiology to studying the health effects of chemicals. Health effects of interest include those in the central nervous (such as cognitive functioning, brain structure), peripheral nervous, cardiovascular, and renal systems. Much of his work has focused on the health effects of metals (such as lead, mercury, and cadmium) and organic compounds (such as polychlorinated biphenyls, hydrocarbon solvents). He is particularly interested in the importance of recent versus lifetime cumulative dose, the timing of the dose during the lifespan and its relation to health effects, and how these each contribute to acute, reversible health effects and chronic, likely irreversible health effects. Dr. Schwartz received his MD from Northwestern University and his MS in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Occupational Medicine.

Lauren Zeise

Lauren Zeise is chief of the Reproductive and Cancer Hazard Assessment Branch of the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. She oversees or is otherwise involved in a variety of California’s risk assessment activities and the development of frameworks and methodologies for assessing toxicity, cumulative impact, nanotechnology, green chemistry/safer alternatives, and susceptible populations. She also is involved in the California Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Program. Dr. Zeise was the 2008 recipient of the Society of Risk Analysis’s Outstanding Practitioners Award. She has served on advisory boards and committees of the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Technology Assessment, World Health Organization, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Dr. Zeise also has served on numerous NRC and IOM committees and boards. She is currently a member of the Committee on Use of Emerging Science for Environmental Health Decisions and the Committee on Breast Cancer and the Environment: The Scientific Evidence, Research Methodology. She received her PhD from Harvard University.

Judith T. Zelikoff

Judith T. Zelikoff is professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine at the New York University Medical Center. Her research interests are in immunotoxicity and reproductive and developmental toxicity associated with inhaled metal oxide nanomaterials, respirable particulate matter, and metal-bearing air pollution mixtures. She is on the NTP Board of Scientific Councilors and an active member of the Society of Toxicology; she was president of the Metals Specialty Section and of the Immunotoxicity Specialty Section, and currently serves on the Board of Councilors and is the secretary-elect of the society. Dr. Zelikoff is a former member of the NRC Committee on Spacecraft Exposure Guidelines. She received her MS in microbiology and PhD in experimental pathology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

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Potential Health Risks from Recurrent Lead Exposure to DOD Firing Range Personnel

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More like this

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Health Care Financing to Improve Availability of Affordable Contraception: Identifying Promising Practices

Review of Methods in the Report on Carcinogens Handbook

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