29 Cfr 1926.62

29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
Lead.

29 CFR 1926.62 (May 2, 2025)

This content is from the eCFR and is authoritative but unofficial.

Title 29 —Labor
Subtitle B —Regulations Relating to Labor
Chapter XVII —Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Labor
Part 1926 —Safety and Health Regulations for Construction
Subpart D —Occupational Health and Environmental Controls
Authority: 40 U.S.C. 3704; 29 U.S.C. 653, 655, and 657; and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR
25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), 1-90 (55 FR 9033), 6-96 (62 FR 111), 3-2000 (65 FR 50017), 5-2002 (67 FR 65008), 5-2007 (72 FR
31159), 4-2010 (75 FR 55355), 1-2012 (77 FR 3912), or 8-2020 (85 FR 58393), as applicable; and 29 CFR part 1911. Sections
1926.59, 1926.60, and 1926.65 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 553 and 29 CFR part 1911. Section 1926.61 also issued under 49
U.S.C. 1801-1819 and 5 U.S.C. 553. See Subpart D of Part 1926 for more
Authority: 40 U.S.C. 3704; 29 U.S.C. 653, 655, and 657; and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR
25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), 1-90 (55 FR 9033), 6-96 (62 FR 111), 3-2000 (65 FR 50017), 5-2002 (67 FR 65008), 5-2007 (72 FR
31159), 4-2010 (75 FR 55355), 1-2012 (77 FR 3912), or 8-2020 (85 FR 58393), as applicable; and 29 CFR part 1911, unless
otherwise noted Sections 1926.58, 1926.59, 1926.60, and 1926.65 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 553 and 29 CFR part 1911.
Section 1926.61 also issued under 49 U.S.C. 1801-1819 and 5 U.S.C. 553. See Part 1926 for more
Source: 44 FR 8577, Feb. 9, 1979; 44 FR 20940, Apr. 6, 1979, unless otherwise noted.

Editorial Notes: 1. At 44 FR 8577, Feb. 9, 1979, and corrected at 44 FR 20940, Apr. 6, 1979, OSHA reprinted
without change the entire text of 29 CFR part 1926 together with certain General Industry Occupational Safety and
Health Standards contained in 29 CFR part 1910, which have been identified as also applicable to construction
work. This republication developed a single set of OSHA regulations for both labor and management forces within
the construction industry.
2. Nomenclature changes to part 1926 appear at 84 FR 21597, May 14, 2019.

§ 1926.62 Lead.
(a) Scope. This section applies to all construction work where an employee may be occupationally exposed to
lead. All construction work excluded from coverage in the general industry standard for lead by 29 CFR
1910.1025(a)(2) is covered by this standard. Construction work is defined as work for construction,
alteration and/or repair, including painting and decorating. It includes but is not limited to the following:
(1) Demolition or salvage of structures where lead or materials containing lead are present;
(2) Removal or encapsulation of materials containing lead;
(3) New construction, alteration, repair, or renovation of structures, substrates, or portions thereof, that
contain lead, or materials containing lead;
(4) Installation of products containing lead;
(5) Lead contamination/emergency cleanup;
(6) Transportation, disposal, storage, or containment of lead or materials containing lead on the site or
location at which construction activities are performed, and
(7) Maintenance operations associated with the construction activities described in this paragraph.
(b) Definitions.

29 CFR 1926.62(b) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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29 CFR 1926.62(b) “Action level”

Action level means employee exposure, without regard to the use of respirators, to an airborne
concentration of lead of 30 micrograms per cubic meter of air (30 µg/m3) calculated as an 8-hour
time-weighted average (TWA).
Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S.
Department of Labor, or designee.
Competent person means one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable lead hazards in the
surroundings or working conditions and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures
to eliminate them.
Director means the Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, or designee.
Lead means metallic lead, all inorganic lead compounds, and organic lead soaps. Excluded from this
definition are all other organic lead compounds.
This section means this standard.
(c) Permissible exposure limit.
(1) The employer shall assure that no employee is exposed to lead at concentrations greater than fifty
micrograms per cubic meter of air (50 µg/m3) averaged over an 8-hour period.
(2) If an employee is exposed to lead for more than 8 hours in any work day the employees' allowable
exposure, as a time weighted average (TWA) for that day, shall be reduced according to the following
formula:
Allowable employee exposure (in µg/m3) = 400 divided by hours worked in the day.
(3) When respirators are used to limit employee exposure as required under paragraph (c) of this section
and all the requirements of paragraphs (e)(1) and (f) of this section have been met, employee
exposure may be considered to be at the level provided by the protection factor of the respirator for
those periods the respirator is worn. Those periods may be averaged with exposure levels during
periods when respirators are not worn to determine the employee's daily TWA exposure.
(d) Exposure assessment —
(1) General.
(i)

Each employer who has a workplace or operation covered by this standard shall initially
determine if any employee may be exposed to lead at or above the action level.

(ii) For the purposes of paragraph (d) of this section, employee exposure is that exposure which
would occur if the employee were not using a respirator.
(iii) With the exception of monitoring under paragraph (d)(3), where monitoring is required under
this section, the employer shall collect personal samples representative of a full shift including
at least one sample for each job classification in each work area either for each shift or for the
shift with the highest exposure level.
(iv) Full shift personal samples shall be representative of the monitored employee's regular, daily
exposure to lead.
(2) Protection of employees during assessment of exposure.

29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
Lead.

(i)

29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(i)

With respect to the lead related tasks listed in paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section, where lead is
present, until the employer performs an employee exposure assessment as required in
paragraph (d) of this section and documents that the employee performing any of the listed
tasks is not exposed above the PEL, the employer shall treat the employee as if the employee
were exposed above the PEL, and not in excess of ten (10) times the PEL, and shall implement
employee protective measures prescribed in paragraph (d)(2)(v) of this section. The tasks
covered by this requirement are:
(A) Where lead containing coatings or paint are present: Manual demolition of structures (e.g,
dry wall), manual scraping, manual sanding, heat gun applications, and power tool
cleaning with dust collection systems;
(B) Spray painting with lead paint.

(ii) In addition, with regard to tasks not listed in paragraph (d)(2)(i), where the employee has any
reason to believe that an employee performing the task may be exposed to lead in excess of
the PEL, until the employer performs an employee exposure assessment as required by
paragraph (d) of this section and documents that the employee's lead exposure is not above
the PEL the employer shall treat the employee as if the employee were exposed above the PEL
and shall implememt employee protective measures as prescribed in paragraph (d)(2)(v) of this
section.
(iii) With respect to the tasks listed in this paragraph (d)(2)(iii) of this section, where lead is present,
until the employer performs an employee exposure assessment as required in this paragraph
(d), and documents that the employee performing any of the listed tasks is not exposed in
excess of 500 µg/m3, the employer shall treat the employee as if the employee were exposed to
lead in excess of 500 µg/m3 and shall implement employee protective measures as prescribed
in paragraph (d)(2)(v) of this section. Where the employer does establish that the employee is
exposed to levels of lead below 500 µg/m3, the employer may provide the exposed employee
with the appropriate respirator prescribed for such use at such lower exposures, in accordance
with paragraph (f) of this section. The tasks covered by this requirement are:
(A) Using lead containing mortar; lead burning
(B) Where lead containing coatings or paint are present: rivet busting; power tool cleaning
without dust collection systems; cleanup activities where dry expendable abrasives are
used; and abrasive blasting enclosure movement and removal.
(iv) With respect to the tasks listed in this paragraph (d)(2)(iv), where lead is present, until the
employer performs an employee exposure assessment as required in this paragraph (d) and
documents that the employee performing any of the listed tasks is not exposed to lead in
excess of 2,500 µg/m3 (50×PEL), the employer shall treat the employee as if the employee were
exposed to lead in excess of 2,500 µg/m3 and shall implement employee protective measures
as prescribed in paragraph (d)(2)(v) of this section. Where the employer does establish that the
employee is exposed to levels of lead below 2,500 µg/m3, the employer may provide the
exposed employee with the appropriate respirator prescribed for use at such lower exposures,
in accordance with paragraph (f) of this section. Interim protection as described in this
paragraph is required where lead containing coatings or paint are present on structures when
performing:
(A) Abrasive blasting,
29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(iv)(A) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(iv)(B)

(B) Welding,
(C) Cutting, and
(D) Torch burning.
(v) Until the employer performs an employee exposure assessment as required under paragraph
(d) of this section and determines actual employee exposure, the employer shall provide to
employees performing the tasks described in paragraphs (d)(2)(i), (d)(2)(ii), (d)(2)(iii), and
(d)(2)(iv) of this section with interim protection as follows:
(A) Appropriate respiratory protection in accordance with paragraph (f) of this section.
(B) Appropriate personal protective clothing and equipment in accordance with paragraph (g)
of this section.
(C) Change areas in accordance with paragraph (i)(2) of this section.
(D) Hand washing facilities in accordance with paragraph (i)(5) of this section.
(E) Biological monitoring in accordance with paragraph (j)(1)(i) of this section, to consist of
blood sampling and analysis for lead and zinc protoporphyrin levels, and
(F) Training as required under paragraph (l)(1)(i) of this section regarding 29 CFR 1926.59,
Hazard Communication; training as required under paragraph (1)(2)(iii) of this section,
regarding use of respirators; and training in accordance with 29 CFR 1926.21, Safety
training and education.
(3) Basis of initial determination.
(i)

Except as provided under paragraphs (d)(3)(iii) and (d)(3)(iv) of this section the employer shall
monitor employee exposures and shall base initial determinations on the employee exposure
monitoring results and any of the following, relevant considerations:
(A) Any information, observations, or calculations which would indicate employee exposure to
lead;
(B) Any previous measurements of airborne lead; and
(C) Any employee complaints of symptoms which may be attributable to exposure to lead.

(ii) Monitoring for the initial determination where performed may be limited to a representative
sample of the exposed employees who the employer reasonably believes are exposed to the
greatest airborne concentrations of lead in the workplace.
(iii) Where the employer has previously monitored for lead exposures, and the data were obtained
within the past 12 months during work operations conducted under workplace conditions
closely resembling the processes, type of material, control methods, work practices, and
environmental conditions used and prevailing in the employer's current operations, the
employer may rely on such earlier monitoring results to satisfy the requirements of paragraphs
(d)(3)(i) and (d)(6) of this section if the sampling and analytical methods meet the accuracy
and confidence levels of paragraph (d)(9) of this section.

29 CFR 1926.62(d)(3)(iii) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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29 CFR 1926.62(d)(3)(iv)

(iv) Where the employer has objective data, demonstrating that a particular product or material
containing lead or a specific process, operation or activity involving lead cannot result in
employee exposure to lead at or above the action level during processing, use, or handling, the
employer may rely upon such data instead of implementing initial monitoring.
(A) The employer shall establish and maintain an accurate record documenting the nature and
relevancy of objective data as specified in paragraph (n)(4) of this section, where used in
assessing employee exposure in lieu of exposure monitoring.
(B) Objective data, as described in paragraph (d)(3)(iv) of this section, is not permitted to be
used for exposure assessment in connection with paragraph (d)(2) of this section.
(4) Positive initial determination and initial monitoring.
(i)

Where a determination conducted under paragraphs (d) (1), (2) and (3) of this section shows
the possibility of any employee exposure at or above the action level the employer shall
conduct monitoring which is representative of the exposure for each employee in the workplace
who is exposed to lead.

(ii) Where the employer has previously monitored for lead exposure, and the data were obtained
within the past 12 months during work operations conducted under workplace conditions
closely resembling the processes, type of material, control methods, work practices, and
environmental conditions used and prevailing in the employer's current operations, the
employer may rely on such earlier monitoring results to satisfy the requirements of paragraph
(d)(4)(i) of this section if the sampling and analytical methods meet the accuracy and
confidence levels of paragraph (d)(9) of this section.
(5) Negative initial determination. Where a determination, conducted under paragraphs (d) (1), (2), and
(3) of this section is made that no employee is exposed to airborne concentrations of lead at or
above the action level the employer shall make a written record of such determination. The record
shall include at least the information specified in paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section and shall also
include the date of determination, location within the worksite, and the name of each employee
monitored.
(6) Frequency.
(i)

If the initial determination reveals employee exposure to be below the action level further
exposure determination need not be repeated except as otherwise provided in paragraph (d)(7)
of this section.

(ii) If the initial determination or subsequent determination reveals employee exposure to be at or
above the action level but at or below the PEL the employer shall perform monitoring in
accordance with this paragraph at least every 6 months. The employer shall continue
monitoring at the required frequency until at least two consecutive measurements, taken at
least 7 days apart, are below the action level at which time the employer may discontinue
monitoring for that employee except as otherwise provided in paragraph (d)(7) of this section.
(iii) If the initial determination reveals that employee exposure is above the PEL the employer shall
perform monitoring quarterly. The employer shall continue monitoring at the required frequency
until at least two consecutive measurements, taken at least 7 days apart, are at or below the
PEL but at or above the action level at which time the employer shall repeat monitoring for that
employee at the frequency specified in paragraph (d)(6)(ii) of this section, except as otherwise
29 CFR 1926.62(d)(6)(iii) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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29 CFR 1926.62(d)(7)

provided in paragraph (d)(7) of this section. The employer shall continue monitoring at the
required frequency until at least two consecutive measurements, taken at least 7 days apart,
are below the action level at which time the employer may discontinue monitoring for that
employee except as otherwise provided in paragraph (d)(7) of this section.
(7) Additional exposure assessments. Whenever there has been a change of equipment, process, control,
personnel or a new task has been initiated that may result in additional employees being exposed to
lead at or above the action level or may result in employees already exposed at or above the action
level being exposed above the PEL, the employer shall conduct additional monitoring in accordance
with this paragraph.
(8) Employee notification.
(i)

The employer must, as soon as possible but no later than 5 working days after the receipt of the
results of any monitoring performed under this section, notify each affected employee of these
results either individually in writing or by posting the results in an appropriate location that is
accessible to employees.

(ii) Whenever the results indicate that the representative employee exposure, without regard to
respirators, is at or above the PEL the employer shall include in the written notice a statement
that the employees exposure was at or above that level and a description of the corrective
action taken or to be taken to reduce exposure to below that level.
(9) Accuracy of measurement. The employer shall use a method of monitoring and analysis which has
an accuracy (to a confidence level of 95%) of not less than plus or minus 25 percent for airborne
concentrations of lead equal to or greater than 30 µg/m3.
(e) Methods of compliance —
(1) Engineering and work practice controls. The employer shall implement engineering and work practice
controls, including administrative controls, to reduce and maintain employee exposure to lead to or
below the permissible exposure limit to the extent that such controls are feasible. Wherever all
feasible engineering and work practices controls that can be instituted are not sufficient to reduce
employee exposure to or below the permissible exposure limit prescribed in paragraph (c) of this
section, the employer shall nonetheless use them to reduce employee exposure to the lowest
feasible level and shall supplement them by the use of respiratory protection that complies with the
requirements of paragraph (f) of this section.
(2) Compliance program.
(i)

Prior to commencement of the job each employer shall establish and implement a written
compliance program to achieve compliance with paragraph (c) of this section.

(ii) Written plans for these compliance programs shall include at least the following:
(A) A description of each activity in which lead is emitted; e.g. equipment used, material
involved, controls in place, crew size, employee job responsibilities, operating procedures
and maintenance practices;
(B) A description of the specific means that will be employed to achieve compliance and,
where engineering controls are required engineering plans and studies used to determine
methods selected for controlling exposure to lead;
(C) A report of the technology considered in meeting the PEL;
29 CFR 1926.62(e)(2)(ii)(C) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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29 CFR 1926.62(e)(2)(ii)(D)

(D) Air monitoring data which documents the source of lead emissions;
(E) A detailed schedule for implementation of the program, including documentation such as
copies of purchase orders for equipment, construction contracts, etc.;
(F) A work practice program which includes items required under paragraphs (g), (h) and (i) of
this section and incorporates other relevant work practices such as those specified in
paragraph (e)(5) of this section;
(G) An administrative control schedule required by paragraph (e)(4) of this section, if
applicable;
(H) A description of arrangements made among contractors on multi-contractor sites with
respect to informing affected employees of potential exposure to lead and with respect to
responsibility for compliance with this section as set-forth in § 1926.16.
(I)

Other relevant information.

(iii) The compliance program shall provide for frequent and regular inspections of job sites,
materials, and equipment to be made by a competent person.
(iv) Written programs shall be submitted upon request to any affected employee or authorized
employee representatives, to the Assistant Secretary and the Director, and shall be available at
the worksite for examination and copying by the Assistant Secretary and the Director.
(v) Written programs must be revised and updated at least annually to reflect the current status of
the program.
(3) Mechanical ventilation. When ventilation is used to control lead exposure, the employer shall evaluate
the mechanical performance of the system in controlling exposure as necessary to maintain its
effectiveness.
(4) Administrative controls. If administrative controls are used as a means of reducing employees TWA
exposure to lead, the employer shall establish and implement a job rotation schedule which includes:
(i)

Name or identification number of each affected employee;

(ii) Duration and exposure levels at each job or work station where each affected employee is
located; and
(iii) Any other information which may be useful in assessing the reliability of administrative controls
to reduce exposure to lead.
(5) The employer shall ensure that, to the extent relevant, employees follow good work practices such as
described in appendix B of this section.
(f) Respiratory protection —
(1) General. For employees who use respirators required by this section, the employer must provide each
employee an appropriate respirator that complies with the requirements of this paragraph.
Respirators must be used during:
(i)

Periods when an employee's exposure to lead exceeds the PEL.

(ii) Work operations for which engineering and work-practice controls are not sufficient to reduce
employee exposures to or below the PEL.
29 CFR 1926.62(f)(1)(ii) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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29 CFR 1926.62(f)(1)(iii)

(iii) Periods when an employee requests a respirator.
(iv) Periods when respirators are required to provide interim protection of employees while they
perform the operations specified in paragraph (d)(2) of this section.
(2) Respirator program.
(i)

The employer must implement a respiratory protection program in accordance with §
1910.134(b) through (d) (except (d)(1)(iii)), and (f) through (m), which covers each employee
required by this section to use a respirator.

(ii) If an employee has breathing difficulty during fit testing or respirator use, the employer must
provide the employee with a medical examination in accordance with paragraph (j)(3)(i)(B) of
this section to determine whether or not the employee can use a respirator while performing
the required duty.
(3) Respirator selection.
(i)

Employers must:
(A) Select, and provide to employees, the appropriate respirators specified in paragraph
(d)(3)(i)(A) of 29 CFR 1910.134.
(B) Provide employees with a full facepiece respirator instead of a half mask respirator for
protection against lead aerosols that may cause eye or skin irritation at the use
concentrations.
(C) Provide HEPA filters for powered and non-powered air-purifying respirators.

(ii) The employer must provide a powered air-purifying respirator when an employee chooses to
use such a respirator and it will provide adequate protection to the employee.
(g) Protective work clothing and equipment —
(1) Provision and use. Where an employee is exposed to lead above the PEL without regard to the use of
respirators, where employees are exposed to lead compounds which may cause skin or eye irritation
(e.g. lead arsenate, lead azide), and as interim protection for employees performing tasks as
specified in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, the employer shall provide at no cost to the employee
and assure that the employee uses appropriate protective work clothing and equipment that
prevents contamination of the employee and the employee's garments such as, but not limited to:
(i)

Coveralls or similar full-body work clothing;

(ii) Gloves, hats, and shoes or disposable shoe coverlets; and
(iii) Face shields, vented goggles, or other appropriate protective equipment which complies with §
1910.133 of this chapter.
(2) Cleaning and replacement.
(i)

The employer shall provide the protective clothing required in paragraph (g)(1) of this section in
a clean and dry condition at least weekly, and daily to employees whose exposure levels
without regard to a respirator are over 200 µg/m3 of lead as an 8-hour TWA.

(ii) The employer shall provide for the cleaning, laundering, and disposal of protective clothing and
equipment required by paragraph (g)(1) of this section.
29 CFR 1926.62(g)(2)(ii) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62(g)(2)(iii)

(iii) The employer shall repair or replace required protective clothing and equipment as needed to
maintain their effectiveness.
(iv) The employer shall assure that all protective clothing is removed at the completion of a work
shift only in change areas provided for that purpose as prescribed in paragraph (i)(2) of this
section.
(v) The employer shall assure that contaminated protective clothing which is to be cleaned,
laundered, or disposed of, is placed in a closed container in the change area which prevents
dispersion of lead outside the container.
(vi) The employer shall inform in writing any person who cleans or launders protective clothing or
equipment of the potentially harmful effects of exposure to lead.
(vii)
(A) The employer shall ensure that the containers of contaminated protective clothing and
equipment required by paragraph (g)(2)(v) of this section are labeled as follows:
DANGER: CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT CONTAMINATED WITH LEAD. MAY DAMAGE FERTILITY
OR THE UNBORN CHILD. CAUSES DAMAGE TO THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. DO NOT
EAT, DRINK OR SMOKE WHEN HANDLING. DO NOT REMOVE DUST BY BLOWING OR SHAKING.
DISPOSE OF LEAD CONTAMINATED WASH WATER IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE
LOCAL, STATE, OR FEDERAL REGULATIONS.
(B) Prior to June 1, 2015, employers may include the following information on bags or
containers of contaminated protective clothing and equipment required by paragraph
(g)(2)(v) in lieu of the labeling requirements in paragraph (g)(2)(vii)(A) of this section:
Caution: Clothing contaminated with lead. Do not remove dust by blowing or shaking. Dispose
of lead contaminated wash water in accordance with applicable local, state, or federal
regulations.
(viii) The employer shall prohibit the removal of lead from protective clothing or equipment by
blowing, shaking, or any other means which disperses lead into the air.
(h) Housekeeping —
(1) All surfaces shall be maintained as free as practicable of accumulations of lead.
(2) Clean-up of floors and other surfaces where lead accumulates shall wherever possible, be cleaned
by vacuuming or other methods that minimize the likelihood of lead becoming airborne.
(3) Shoveling, dry or wet sweeping, and brushing may be used only where vacuuming or other equally
effective methods have been tried and found not to be effective.
(4) Where vacuuming methods are selected, the vacuums shall be equipped with HEPA filters and used
and emptied in a manner which minimizes the reentry of lead into the workplace.
(5) Compressed air shall not be used to remove lead from any surface unless the compressed air is
used in conjunction with a ventilation system designed to capture the airborne dust created by the
compressed air.
(i)

Hygiene facilities and practices.

29 CFR 1926.62(i) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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29 CFR 1926.62(i)(1)

(1) The employer shall assure that in areas where employees are exposed to lead above the PEL without
regard to the use of respirators, food or beverage is not present or consumed, tobacco products are
not present or used, and cosmetics are not applied.
(2) Change areas.
(i)

The employer shall provide clean change areas for employees whose airborne exposure to lead
is above the PEL, and as interim protection for employees performing tasks as specified in
paragraph (d)(2) of this section, without regard to the use of respirators.

(ii) The employer shall assure that change areas are equipped with separate storage facilities for
protective work clothing and equipment and for street clothes which prevent crosscontamination.
(iii) The employer shall assure that employees do not leave the workplace wearing any protective
clothing or equipment that is required to be worn during the work shift.
(3) Showers.
(i)

The employer shall provide shower facilities, where feasible, for use by employees whose
airborne exposure to lead is above the PEL.

(ii) The employer shall assure, where shower facilities are available, that employees shower at the
end of the work shift and shall provide an adequate supply of cleansing agents and towels for
use by affected employees.
(4) Eating facilities.
(i)

The employer shall provide lunchroom facilities or eating areas for employees whose airborne
exposure to lead is above the PEL, without regard to the use of respirators.

(ii) The employer shall assure that lunchroom facilities or eating areas are as free as practicable
from lead contamination and are readily accessible to employees.
(iii) The employer shall assure that employees whose airborne exposure to lead is above the PEL,
without regard to the use of a respirator, wash their hands and face prior to eating, drinking,
smoking or applying cosmetics.
(iv) The employer shall assure that employees do not enter lunchroom facilities or eating areas with
protective work clothing or equipment unless surface lead dust has been removed by
vacuuming, downdraft booth, or other cleaning method that limits dispersion of lead dust.
(5) Hand washing facilities.
(i)

The employer shall provide adequate handwashing facilities for use by employees exposed to
lead in accordance with 29 CFR 1926.51(f).

(ii) Where showers are not provided the employer shall assure that employees wash their hands
and face at the end of the work-shift.
(j)

Medical surveillance —
(1) General.

29 CFR 1926.62(j)(1) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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(i)

29 CFR 1926.62(j)(1)(i)

The employer shall make available initial medical surveillance to employees occupationally
exposed on any day to lead at or above the action level. Initial medical surveillance consists of
biological monitoring in the form of blood sampling and analysis for lead and zinc
protoporphyrin levels.

(ii) The employer shall institute a medical surveillance program in accordance with paragraphs
(j)(2) and (j)(3) of this section for all employees who are or may be exposed by the employer at
or above the action level for more than 30 days in any consecutive 12 months;
(iii) The employer shall assure that all medical examinations and procedures are performed by or
under the supervision of a licensed physician.
(iv) The employer shall make available the required medical surveillance including multiple
physician review under paragraph (j)(3)(iii) without cost to employees and at a reasonable time
and place.
(2) Biological monitoring —
(i)

Blood lead and ZPP level sampling and analysis. The employer shall make available biological
monitoring in the form of blood sampling and analysis for lead and zinc protoporphyrin levels to
each employee covered under paragraphs (j)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section on the following
schedule:
(A) For each employee covered under paragraph (j)(1)(ii) of this section, at least every 2
months for the first 6 months and every 6 months thereafter;
(B) For each employee covered under paragraphs (j)(1) (i) or (ii) of this section whose last
blood sampling and analysis indicated a blood lead level at or above 40 µg/dl, at least
every two months. This frequency shall continue until two consecutive blood samples and
analyses indicate a blood lead level below 40 µg/dl; and
(C) For each employee who is removed from exposure to lead due to an elevated blood lead
level at least monthly during the removal period.

(ii) Follow-up blood sampling tests. Whenever the results of a blood lead level test indicate that an
employee's blood lead level is at or above the numerical criterion for medical removal under
paragraph (k)(1)(i) of this section, the employer shall provide a second (follow-up) blood
sampling test within two weeks after the employer receives the results of the first blood
sampling test.
(iii) Accuracy of blood lead level sampling and analysis. Blood lead level sampling and analysis
provided pursuant to this section shall have an accuracy (to a confidence level of 95 percent)
within plus or minus 15 percent or 6 µg/dl, whichever is greater, and shall be conducted by a
laboratory approved by OSHA.
(iv) Employee notification.
(A) Within five working days after the receipt of biological monitoring results, the employer
shall notify each employee in writing of his or her blood lead level; and
(B) The employer shall notify each employee whose blood lead level is at or above 40 µg/dl
that the standard requires temporary medical removal with Medical Removal Protection
benefits when an employee's blood lead level is at or above the numerical criterion for
medical removal under paragraph (k)(1)(i) of this section.
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29 CFR 1926.62(j)(3)

(3) Medical examinations and consultations —
(i)

Frequency. The employer shall make available medical examinations and consultations to each
employee covered under paragraph (j)(1)(ii) of this section on the following schedule:
(A) At least annually for each employee for whom a blood sampling test conducted at any
time during the preceding 12 months indicated a blood lead level at or above 40 µg/dl;
(B) As soon as possible, upon notification by an employee either that the employee has
developed signs or symptoms commonly associated with lead intoxication, that the
employee desires medical advice concerning the effects of current or past exposure to
lead on the employee's ability to procreate a healthy child, that the employee is pregnant,
or that the employee has demonstrated difficulty in breathing during a respirator fitting
test or during use; and
(C) As medically appropriate for each employee either removed from exposure to lead due to
a risk of sustaining material impairment to health, or otherwise limited pursuant to a final
medical determination.

(ii) Content. The content of medical examinations made available pursuant to paragraph
(j)(3)(i)(B)-(C) of this section shall be determined by an examining physician and, if requested
by an employee, shall include pregnancy testing or laboratory evaluation of male fertility.
Medical examinations made available pursuant to paragraph (j)(3)(i)(A) of this section shall
include the following elements:
(A) A detailed work history and a medical history, with particular attention to past lead
exposure (occupational and non-occupational), personal habits (smoking, hygiene), and
past gastrointestinal, hematologic, renal, cardiovascular, reproductive and neurological
problems;
(B) A thorough physical examination, with particular attention to teeth, gums, hematologic,
gastrointestinal, renal, cardiovascular, and neurological systems. Pulmonary status should
be evaluated if respiratory protection will be used;
(C) A blood pressure measurement;
(D) A blood sample and analysis which determines:
(1) Blood lead level;
(2) Hemoglobin and hematocrit determinations, red cell indices, and examination of
peripheral smear morphology;
(3) Zinc protoporphyrin;
(4) Blood urea nitrogen; and,
(5) Serum creatinine;
(E) A routine urinalysis with microscopic examination; and
(F) Any laboratory or other test relevant to lead exposure which the examining physician
deems necessary by sound medical practice.
(iii) Multiple physician review mechanism.
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29 CFR 1926.62(j)(3)(iii)(A)

(A) If the employer selects the initial physician who conducts any medical examination or
consultation provided to an employee under this section, the employee may designate a
second physician:
(1) To review any findings, determinations or recommendations of the initial physician;
and
(2) To conduct such examinations, consultations, and laboratory tests as the second
physician deems necessary to facilitate this review.
(B) The employer shall promptly notify an employee of the right to seek a second medical
opinion after each occasion that an initial physician conducts a medical examination or
consultation pursuant to this section. The employer may condition its participation in, and
payment for, the multiple physician review mechanism upon the employee doing the
following within fifteen (15) days after receipt of the foregoing notification, or receipt of
the initial physician's written opinion, whichever is later:
(1) The employee informing the employer that he or she intends to seek a second
medical opinion, and
(2) The employee initiating steps to make an appointment with a second physician.
(C) If the findings, determinations or recommendations of the second physician differ from
those of the initial physician, then the employer and the employee shall assure that efforts
are made for the two physicians to resolve any disagreement.
(D) If the two physicians have been unable to quickly resolve their disagreement, then the
employer and the employee through their respective physicians shall designate a third
physician:
(1) To review any findings, determinations or recommendations of the prior physicians;
and
(2) To conduct such examinations, consultations, laboratory tests and discussions with
the prior physicians as the third physician deems necessary to resolve the
disagreement of the prior physicians.
(E) The employer shall act consistent with the findings, determinations and recommendations
of the third physician, unless the employer and the employee reach an agreement which is
otherwise consistent with the recommendations of at least one of the three physicians.
(iv) Information provided to examining and consulting physicians.
(A) The employer shall provide an initial physician conducting a medical examination or
consultation under this section with the following information:
(1) A copy of this regulation for lead including all Appendices;
(2) A description of the affected employee's duties as they relate to the employee's
exposure;
(3) The employee's exposure level or anticipated exposure level to lead and to any other
toxic substance (if applicable);
(4) A description of any personal protective equipment used or to be used;
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29 CFR 1926.62(j)(3)(iv)(A)(5)

(5) Prior blood lead determinations; and
(6) All prior written medical opinions concerning the employee in the employer's
possession or control.
(B) The employer shall provide the foregoing information to a second or third physician
conducting a medical examination or consultation under this section upon request either
by the second or third physician, or by the employee.
(v) Written medical opinions.
(A) The employer shall obtain and furnish the employee with a copy of a written medical
opinion from each examining or consulting physician which contains only the following
information:
(1) The physician's opinion as to whether the employee has any detected medical
condition which would place the employee at increased risk of material impairment
of the employee's health from exposure to lead;
(2) Any recommended special protective measures to be provided to the employee, or
limitations to be placed upon the employee's exposure to lead;
(3) Any recommended limitation upon the employee's use of respirators, including a
determination of whether the employee can wear a powered air purifying respirator if
a physician determines that the employee cannot wear a negative pressure
respirator; and
(4) The results of the blood lead determinations.
(B) The employer shall instruct each examining and consulting physician to:
(1) Not reveal either in the written opinion or orally, or in any other means of
communication with the employer, findings, including laboratory results, or diagnoses
unrelated to an employee's occupational exposure to lead; and
(2) Advise the employee of any medical condition, occupational or nonoccupational,
which dictates further medical examination or treatment.
(vi) Alternate physician determination mechanisms. The employer and an employee or authorized
employee representative may agree upon the use of any alternate physician determination
mechanism in lieu of the multiple physician review mechanism provided by paragraph (j)(3)(iii)
of this section so long as the alternate mechanism is as expeditious and protective as the
requirements contained in this paragraph.
(4) Chelation.
(i)

The employer shall assure that any person whom he retains, employs, supervises or controls
does not engage in prophylactic chelation of any employee at any time.

(ii) If therapeutic or diagnostic chelation is to be performed by any person in paragraph (j)(4)(i) of
this section, the employer shall assure that it be done under the supervision of a licensed
physician in a clinical setting with thorough and appropriate medical monitoring and that the
employee is notified in writing prior to its occurrence.
(k) Medical removal protection —
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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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29 CFR 1926.62(k)(1)

(1) Temporary medical removal and return of an employee —
(i)

Temporary removal due to elevated blood lead level. The employer shall remove an employee
from work having an exposure to lead at or above the action level on each occasion that a
periodic and a follow-up blood sampling test conducted pursuant to this section indicate that
the employee's blood lead level is at or above 50 µg/dl; and,

(ii) Temporary removal due to a final medical determination.
(A) The employer shall remove an employee from work having an exposure to lead at or above
the action level on each occasion that a final medical determination results in a medical
finding, determination, or opinion that the employee has a detected medical condition
which places the employee at increased risk of material impairment to health from
exposure to lead.
(B) For the purposes of this section, the phrase final medical determination means the written
medical opinion on the employees' health status by the examining physician or, where
relevant, the outcome of the multiple physician review mechanism or alternate medical
determination mechanism used pursuant to the medical surveillance provisions of this
section.
(C) Where a final medical determination results in any recommended special protective
measures for an employee, or limitations on an employee's exposure to lead, the employer
shall implement and act consistent with the recommendation.
(iii) Return of the employee to former job status.
(A) The employer shall return an employee to his or her former job status:
(1) For an employee removed due to a blood lead level at or above 50 µg/dl when two
consecutive blood sampling tests indicate that the employee's blood lead level is
below 40 µg/dl;
(2) For an employee removed due to a final medical determination, when a subsequent
final medical determination results in a medical finding, determination, or opinion
that the employee no longer has a detected medical condition which places the
employee at increased risk of material impairment to health from exposure to lead.
(B) For the purposes of this section, the requirement that an employer return an employee to
his or her former job status is not intended to expand upon or restrict any rights an
employee has or would have had, absent temporary medical removal, to a specific job
classification or position under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
(iv) Removal of other employee special protective measure or limitations. The employer shall remove
any limitations placed on an employee or end any special protective measures provided to an
employee pursuant to a final medical determination when a subsequent final medical
determination indicates that the limitations or special protective measures are no longer
necessary.
(v) Employer options pending a final medical determination. Where the multiple physician review
mechanism, or alternate medical determination mechanism used pursuant to the medical
surveillance provisions of this section, has not yet resulted in a final medical determination with
respect to an employee, the employer shall act as follows:
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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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29 CFR 1926.62(k)(1)(v)(A)

(A) Removal. The employer may remove the employee from exposure to lead, provide special
protective measures to the employee, or place limitations upon the employee, consistent
with the medical findings, determinations, or recommendations of any of the physicians
who have reviewed the employee's health status.
(B) Return. The employer may return the employee to his or her former job status, end any
special protective measures provided to the employee, and remove any limitations placed
upon the employee, consistent with the medical findings, determinations, or
recommendations of any of the physicians who have reviewed the employee's health
status, with two exceptions.
(1) If the initial removal, special protection, or limitation of the employee resulted from a
final medical determination which differed from the findings, determinations, or
recommendations of the initial physician or;
(2) If the employee has been on removal status for the preceding eighteen months due
to an elevated blood lead level, then the employer shall await a final medical
determination.
(2) Medical removal protection benefits —
(i)

Provision of medical removal protection benefits. The employer shall provide an employee up to
eighteen (18) months of medical removal protection benefits on each occasion that an
employee is removed from exposure to lead or otherwise limited pursuant to this section.

(ii) Definition of medical removal protection benefits. For the purposes of this section, the
requirement that an employer provide medical removal protection benefits means that, as long
as the job the employee was removed from continues, the employer shall maintain the total
normal earnings, seniority and other employment rights and benefits of an employee, including
the employee's right to his or her former job status as though the employee had not been
medically removed from the employee's job or otherwise medically limited.
(iii) Follow-up medical surveillance during the period of employee removal or limitation. During the
period of time that an employee is medically removed from his or her job or otherwise
medically limited, the employer may condition the provision of medical removal protection
benefits upon the employee's participation in follow-up medical surveillance made available
pursuant to this section.
(iv) Workers' compensation claims. If a removed employee files a claim for workers' compensation
payments for a lead-related disability, then the employer shall continue to provide medical
removal protection benefits pending disposition of the claim. To the extent that an award is
made to the employee for earnings lost during the period of removal, the employer's medical
removal protection obligation shall be reduced by such amount. The employer shall receive no
credit for workers' compensation payments received by the employee for treatment- related
expenses.
(v) Other credits. The employer's obligation to provide medical removal protection benefits to a
removed employee shall be reduced to the extent that the employee receives compensation for
earnings lost during the period of removal either from a publicly or employer-funded
compensation program, or receives income from employment with another employer made
possible by virtue of the employee's removal.

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29 CFR 1926.62(k)(2)(vi)

(vi) Voluntary removal or restriction of an employee. Where an employer, although not required by
this section to do so, removes an employee from exposure to lead or otherwise places
limitations on an employee due to the effects of lead exposure on the employee's medical
condition, the employer shall provide medical removal protection benefits to the employee
equal to that required by paragraph (k)(2) (i) and (ii) of this section.
(l)

Communication of hazards —
(1) General —
(i)

Hazard communication. The employer shall include lead in the program established to comply
with the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) (§ 1910.1200). The employer shall ensure that
each employee has access to labels on containers of lead and safety data sheets, and is
trained in accordance with the provisions of HCS and paragraph (l) of this section. The
employer shall ensure that at least the following hazards are addressed:
(A) Reproductive/developmental toxicity;
(B) Central nervous system effects;
(C) Kidney effects;
(D) Blood effects; and
(E) Acute toxicity effects.

(ii) The employer shall train each employee who is subject to exposure to lead at or above the
action level on any day, or who is subject to exposure to lead compounds which may cause skin
or eye irritation (e.g., lead arsenate, lead azide), in accordance with the requirements of this
section. The employer shall institute a training program and ensure employee participation in
the program.
(iii) The employer shall provide the training program as initial training prior to the time of job
assignment or prior to the start up date for this requirement, whichever comes last.
(iv) The employer shall also provide the training program at least annually for each employee who is
subject to lead exposure at or above the action level on any day.
(2) Training program. The employer shall assure that each employee is trained in the following:
(i)

The content of this standard and its appendices;

(ii) The specific nature of the operations which could result in exposure to lead above the action
level;
(iii) The purpose, proper selection, fitting, use, and limitations of respirators;
(iv) The purpose and a description of the medical surveillance program, and the medical removal
protection program including information concerning the adverse health effects associated
with excessive exposure to lead (with particular attention to the adverse reproductive effects
on both males and females and hazards to the fetus and additional precautions for employees
who are pregnant);
(v) The engineering controls and work practices associated with the employee's job assignment
including training of employees to follow relevant good work practices described in appendix B
of this section;
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29 CFR 1926.62(l)(2)(vi)

(vi) The contents of any compliance plan in effect;
(vii) Instructions to employees that chelating agents should not routinely be used to remove lead
from their bodies and should not be used at all except under the direction of a licensed
physician; and
(viii) The employee's right of access to records under 29 CFR 1910.20.
(3) Access to information and training materials.
(i)

The employer shall make readily available to all affected employees a copy of this standard and
its appendices.

(ii) The employer shall provide, upon request, all materials relating to the employee information and
training program to affected employees and their designated representatives, and to the
Assistant Secretary and the Director.
(m) Signs —
(1) General.
(i)

The employer shall post the following warning signs in each work area where an employee's
exposure to lead is above the PEL.

DANGER
LEAD WORK AREA
MAY DAMAGE FERTILITY OR THE UNBORN CHILD
CAUSES DAMAGE TO THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
DO NOT EAT, DRINK OR SMOKE IN THIS AREA
(ii) The employer shall ensure that no statement appears on or near any sign required by this
paragraph (m) that contradicts or detracts from the meaning of the required sign.
(iii) The employer shall ensure that signs required by this paragraph (m) are illuminated and cleaned
as necessary so that the legend is readily visible.
(iv) The employer may use signs required by other statutes, regulations or ordinances in addition to,
or in combination with, signs required by this paragraph (m).
(v) Prior to June 1, 2016, employers may use the following legend in lieu of that specified in
paragraph (m)(1)(i) of this section:
WARNING
LEAD WORK AREA
POISON
NO SMOKING OR EATING
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29 CFR 1926.62(n)

(n) Recordkeeping —
(1) Exposure assessment.
(i)

The employer shall establish and maintain an accurate record of all monitoring and other data
used in conducting employee exposure assessments as required in paragraph (d) of this
section.

(ii) Exposure monitoring records shall include:
(A) The date(s), number, duration, location and results of each of the samples taken if any,
including a description of the sampling procedure used to determine representative
employee exposure where applicable;
(B) A description of the sampling and analytical methods used and evidence of their accuracy;
(C) The type of respiratory protective devices worn, if any;
(D) Name and job classification of the employee monitored and of all other employees whose
exposure the measurement is intended to represent; and
(E) The environmental variables that could affect the measurement of employee exposure.
(iii) The employer shall maintain monitoring and other exposure assessment records in accordance
with the provisions of 29 CFR 1910.33.
(2) Medical surveillance.
(i)

The employer shall establish and maintain an accurate record for each employee subject to
medical surveillance as required by paragraph (j) of this section.

(ii) This record shall include:
(A) The name and description of the duties of the employee;
(B) A copy of the physician's written opinions;
(C) Results of any airborne exposure monitoring done on or for that employee and provided to
the physician; and
(D) Any employee medical complaints related to exposure to lead.
(iii) The employer shall keep, or assure that the examining physician keeps, the following medical
records:
(A) A copy of the medical examination results including medical and work history required
under paragraph (j) of this section;
(B) A description of the laboratory procedures and a copy of any standards or guidelines used
to interpret the test results or references to that information;
(C) A copy of the results of biological monitoring.
(iv) The employer shall maintain or assure that the physician maintains medical records in
accordance with the provisions of 29 CFR 1910.33.
(3) Medical removals.

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29 CFR 1926.62 (up to date as of 5/02/2025)
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(i)

29 CFR 1926.62(n)(3)(i)

The employer shall establish and maintain an accurate record for each employee removed from
current exposure to lead pursuant to paragraph (k) of this section.

(ii) Each record shall include:
(A) The name of the employee;
(B) The date of each occasion that the employee was removed from current exposure to lead
as well as the corresponding date on which the employee was returned to his or her
former job status;
(C) A brief explanation of how each removal was or is being accomplished; and
(D) A statement with respect to each removal indicating whether or not the reason for the
removal was an elevated blood lead level.
(iii) The employer shall maintain each medical removal record for at least the duration of an
employee's employment.
(4) Objective data for exemption from requirement for initial monitoring.
(i)

For purposes of this section, objective data are information demonstrating that a particular
product or material containing lead or a specific process, operation, or activity involving lead
cannot release dust or fumes in concentrations at or above the action level under any expected
conditions of use. Objective data can be obtained from an industry-wide study or from
laboratory product test results from manufacturers of lead containing products or materials.
The data the employer uses from an industry-wide survey must be obtained under workplace
conditions closely resembling the processes, types of material, control methods, work
practices and environmental conditions in the employer's current operations.

(ii) The employer shall maintain the record of the objective data relied upon for at least 30 years.
(5) Availability. The employer shall make available upon request all records required to be maintained by
paragraph (n) of this section to affected employees, former employees, and their designated
representatives, and to the Assistant Secretary and the Director for examination and copying.
(6) Transfer of records.
(i)

Whenever the employer ceases to do business, the successor employer shall receive and retain
all records required to be maintained by paragraph (n) of this section.

(ii) The employer shall also comply with any additional requirements involving the transfer of
records set forth in 29 CFR 1910.1020(h).
(o) Observation of monitoring —
(1) Employee observation. The employer shall provide affected employees or their designated
representatives an opportunity to observe any monitoring of employee exposure to lead conducted
pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section.
(2) Observation procedures.
(i)

Whenever observation of the monitoring of employee exposure to lead requires entry into an
area where the use of respirators, protective clothing or equipment is required, the employer
shall provide the observer with and assure the use of such respirators, clothing and equipment,
and shall require the observer to comply with all other applicable safety and health procedures.

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29 CFR 1926.62(o)(2)(ii)

(ii) Without interfering with the monitoring, observers shall be entitled to:
(A) Receive an explanation of the measurement procedures;
(B) Observe all steps related to the monitoring of lead performed at the place of exposure; and
(C) Record the results obtained or receive copies of the results when returned by the
laboratory.
(p) Appendices. The information contained in the appendices to this section is not intended by itself, to create
any additional obligations not otherwise imposed by this standard nor detract from any existing
obligation.

Appendix A to § 1926.62—Substance Data Sheet for Occupational
Exposure to Lead
I. Substance Identification
A. Substance: Pure lead (Pb) is a heavy metal at room temperature and pressure and is a basic chemical
element. It can combine with various other substances to form numerous lead compounds.
B. Compounds covered by the standard: The word lead when used in this interim final standard means
elemental lead, all inorganic lead compounds and a class of organic lead compounds called lead soaps. This
standard does not apply to other organic lead compounds.
C. Uses: Exposure to lead occurs in several different occupations in the construction industry, including
demolition or salvage of structures where lead or lead-containing materials are present; removal or
encapsulation of lead-containing materials, new construction, alteration, repair, or renovation of structures that
contain lead or materials containing lead; installation of products containing lead. In addition, there are
construction related activities where exposure to lead may occur, including transportation, disposal, storage, or
containment of lead or materials containing lead on construction sites, and maintenance operations
associated with construction activities.
D. Permissible exposure: The permissible exposure limit (PEL) set by the standard is 50 micrograms of lead per
cubic meter of air (50 µg/m3), averaged over an 8-hour workday.
E. Action level: The interim final standard establishes an action level of 30 micrograms of lead per cubic meter
of air (30 µg/m3), averaged over an 8-hour workday. The action level triggers several ancillary provisions of the
standard such as exposure monitoring, medical surveillance, and training.

II. Health Hazard Data
A. Ways in which lead enters your body. When absorbed into your body in certain doses, lead is a toxic
substance. The object of the lead standard is to prevent absorption of harmful quantities of lead. The standard
is intended to protect you not only from the immediate toxic effects of lead, but also from the serious toxic
effects that may not become apparent until years of exposure have passed. Lead can be absorbed into your
body by inhalation (breathing) and ingestion (eating). Lead (except for certain organic lead compounds not
covered by the standard, such as tetraethyl lead) is not absorbed through your skin. When lead is scattered in
the air as a dust, fume respiratory tract. Inhalation of airborne lead is generally the most important source of
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29 CFR 1926.62(p)

occupational lead absorption. You can also absorb lead through your digestive system if lead gets into your
mouth and is swallowed. If you handle food, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, or make-up which have lead on them
or handle them with hands contaminated with lead, this will contribute to ingestion. A significant portion of the
lead that you inhale or ingest gets into your blood stream. Once in your blood stream, lead is circulated
throughout your body and stored in various organs and body tissues. Some of this lead is quickly filtered out of
your body and excreted, but some remains in the blood and other tissues. As exposure to lead continues, the
amount stored in your body will increase if you are absorbing more lead than your body is excreting. Even
though you may not be aware of any immediate symptoms of disease, this lead stored in your tissues can be
slowly causing irreversible damage, first to individual cells, then to your organs and whole body systems.
B. Effects of overexposure to lead—(1) Short term (acute) overexposure. Lead is a potent, systemic poison that
serves no known useful function once absorbed by your body. Taken in large enough doses, lead can kill you in
a matter of days. A condition affecting the brain called acute encephalopathy may arise which develops quickly
to seizures, coma, and death from cardiorespiratory arrest. A short term dose of lead can lead to acute
encephalopathy. Short term occupational exposures of this magnitude are highly unusual, but not impossible.
Similar forms of encephalopathy may, however, arise from extended, chronic exposure to lower doses of lead.
There is no sharp dividing line between rapidly developing acute effects of lead, and chronic effects which take
longer to acquire. Lead adversely affects numerous body systems, and causes forms of health impairment and
disease which arise after periods of exposure as short as days or as long as several years.
(2) Long-term (chronic) overexposure. Chronic overexposure to lead may result in severe damage to your bloodforming, nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. Some common symptoms of chronic overexposure
include loss of appetite, metallic taste in the mouth, anxiety, constipation, nausea, pallor, excessive tiredness,
weakness, insomnia, headache, nervous irritability, muscle and joint pain or soreness, fine tremors, numbness,
dizziness, hyperactivity and colic. In lead colic there may be severe abdominal pain. Damage to the central
nervous system in general and the brain (encephalopathy) in particular is one of the most severe forms of lead
poisoning. The most severe, often fatal, form of encephalopathy may be preceded by vomiting, a feeling of
dullness progressing to drowsiness and stupor, poor memory, restlessness, irritability, tremor, and convulsions.
It may arise suddenly with the onset of seizures, followed by coma, and death. There is a tendency for
muscular weakness to develop at the same time. This weakness may progress to paralysis often observed as a
characteristic “wrist drop” or “foot drop” and is a manifestation of a disease to the nervous system called
peripheral neuropathy. Chronic overexposure to lead also results in kidney disease with few, if any, symptoms
appearing until extensive and most likely permanent kidney damage has occurred. Routine laboratory tests
reveal the presence of this kidney disease only after about two-thirds of kidney function is lost. When overt
symptoms of urinary dysfunction arise, it is often too late to correct or prevent worsening conditions, and
progression to kidney dialysis or death is possible. Chronic overexposure to lead impairs the reproductive
systems of both men and women. Overexposure to lead may result in decreased sex drive, impotence and
sterility in men. Lead can alter the structure of sperm cells raising the risk of birth defects. There is evidence of
miscarriage and stillbirth in women whose husbands were exposed to lead or who were exposed to lead
themselves. Lead exposure also may result in decreased fertility, and abnormal menstrual cycles in women.
The course of pregnancy may be adversely affected by exposure to lead since lead crosses the placental
barrier and poses risks to developing fetuses. Children born of parents either one of whom were exposed to
excess lead levels are more likely to have birth defects, mental retardation, behavioral disorders or die during
the first year of childhood. Overexposure to lead also disrupts the blood-forming system resulting in decreased
hemoglobin (the substance in the blood that carries oxygen to the cells) and ultimately anemia. Anemia is
characterized by weakness, pallor and fatigability as a result of decreased oxygen carrying capacity in the
blood.
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(3) Health protection goals of the standard. Prevention of adverse health effects for most workers from
exposure to lead throughout a working lifetime requires that a worker's blood lead level (BLL, also expressed as
PbB) be maintained at or below forty micrograms per deciliter of whole blood (40 µg/dl). The blood lead levels
of workers (both male and female workers) who intend to have children should be maintained below 30 µg/dl
to minimize adverse reproductive health effects to the parents and to the developing fetus. The measurement
of your blood lead level (BLL) is the most useful indicator of the amount of lead being absorbed by your body.
Blood lead levels are most often reported in units of milligrams (mg) or micrograms (µg) of lead (1 mg = 1000
µg) per 100 grams (100g), 100 milliliters (100 ml) or deciliter (dl) of blood. These three units are essentially the
same. Sometime BLLs are expressed in the form of mg% or µg%. This is a shorthand notation for 100g, 100 ml,
or dl. (References to BLL measurements in this standard are expressed in the form of µg/dl.)
BLL measurements show the amount of lead circulating in your blood stream, but do not give any information
about the amount of lead stored in your various tissues. BLL measurements merely show current absorption of
lead, not the effect that lead is having on your body or the effects that past lead exposure may have already
caused. Past research into lead-related diseases, however, has focused heavily on associations between BLLs
and various diseases. As a result, your BLL is an important indicator of the likelihood that you will gradually
acquire a lead-related health impairment or disease.
Once your blood lead level climbs above 40 µg/dl, your risk of disease increases. There is a wide variability of
individual response to lead, thus it is difficult to say that a particular BLL in a given person will cause a
particular effect. Studies have associated fatal encephalopathy with BLLs as low as 150 µg/dl. Other studies
have shown other forms of diseases in some workers with BLLs well below 80 µg/dl. Your BLL is a crucial
indicator of the risks to your health, but one other factor is also extremely important. This factor is the length of
time you have had elevated BLLs. The longer you have an elevated BLL, the greater the risk that large quantities
of lead are being gradually stored in your organs and tissues (body burden). The greater your overall body
burden, the greater the chances of substantial permanent damage. The best way to prevent all forms of leadrelated impairments and diseases—both short term and long term—is to maintain your BLL below 40 µg/dl. The
provisions of the standard are designed with this end in mind.
Your employer has prime responsibility to assure that the provisions of the standard are complied with both by
the company and by individual workers. You, as a worker, however, also have a responsibility to assist your
employer in complying with the standard. You can play a key role in protecting your own health by learning
about the lead hazards and their control, learning what the standard requires, following the standard where it
governs your own actions, and seeing that your employer complies with provisions governing his or her
actions.
(4) Reporting signs and symptoms of health problems. You should immediately notify your employer if you
develop signs or symptoms associated with lead poisoning or if you desire medical advice concerning the
effects of current or past exposure to lead or your ability to have a healthy child. You should also notify your
employer if you have difficulty breathing during a respirator fit test or while wearing a respirator. In each of
these cases, your employer must make available to you appropriate medical examinations or consultations.
These must be provided at no cost to you and at a reasonable time and place. The standard contains a
procedure whereby you can obtain a second opinion by a physician of your choice if your employer selected the
initial physician.

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Appendix B to § 1926.62—Employee Standard Summary
This appendix summarizes key provisions of the interim final standard for lead in construction that you as a
worker should become familiar with.

I. Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)—Paragraph (C)
The standard sets a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 50 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air (50
µg/m3), averaged over an 8-hour workday which is referred to as a time-weighted average (TWA). This is the
highest level of lead in air to which you may be permissibly exposed over an 8-hour workday. However, since
this is an 8-hour average, short exposures above the PEL are permitted so long as for each 8-hour work day
your average exposure does not exceed this level. This interim final standard, however, takes into account the
fact that your daily exposure to lead can extend beyond a typical 8-hour workday as the result of overtime or
other alterations in your work schedule. To deal with this situation, the standard contains a formula which
reduces your permissible exposure when you are exposed more than 8 hours. For example, if you are exposed
to lead for 10 hours a day, the maximum permitted average exposure would be 40 µg/m3.

II. Exposure Assessment—Paragraph (D)
If lead is present in your workplace in any quantity, your employer is required to make an initial determination of
whether any employee's exposure to lead exceeds the action level (30 µg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour day).
Employee exposure is that exposure which would occur if the employee were not using a respirator. This initial
determination requires your employer to monitor workers' exposures unless he or she has objective data which
can demonstrate conclusively that no employee will be exposed to lead in excess of the action level. Where
objective data is used in lieu of actual monitoring the employer must establish and maintain an accurate
record, documenting its relevancy in assessing exposure levels for current job conditions. If such objective
data is available, the employer need proceed no further on employee exposure assessment until such time that
conditions have changed and the determination is no longer valid.
Objective data may be compiled from various sources, e.g., insurance companies and trade associations and
information from suppliers or exposure data collected from similar operations. Objective data may also
comprise previously-collected sampling data including area monitoring. If it cannot be determined through
using objective data that worker exposure is less than the action level, your employer must conduct monitoring
or must rely on relevant previous personal sampling, if available. Where monitoring is required for the initial
determination, it may be limited to a representative number of employees who are reasonably expected to have
the highest exposure levels. If your employer has conducted appropriate air sampling for lead in the past 12
months, he or she may use these results, provided they are applicable to the same employee tasks and
exposure conditions and meet the requirements for accuracy as specified in the standard. As with objective
data, if such results are relied upon for the initial determination, your employer must establish and maintain a
record as to the relevancy of such data to current job conditions.
If there have been any employee complaints of symptoms which may be attributable to exposure to lead or if
there is any other information or observations which would indicate employee exposure to lead, this must also
be considered as part of the initial determination.
If this initial determination shows that a reasonable possibility exists that any employee may be exposed,
without regard to respirators, over the action level, your employer must set up an air monitoring program to
determine the exposure level representative of each employee exposed to lead at your workplace. In carrying
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out this air monitoring program, your employer is not required to monitor the exposure of every employee, but
he or she must monitor a representative number of employees and job types. Enough sampling must be done
to enable each employee's exposure level to be reasonably represent full shift exposure. In addition, these air
samples must be taken under conditions which represent each employee's regular, daily exposure to lead.
Sampling performed in the past 12 months may be used to determine exposures above the action level if such
sampling was conducted during work activities essentially similar to present work conditions.
The standard lists certain tasks which may likely result in exposures to lead in excess of the PEL and, in some
cases, exposures in excess of 50 times the PEL. If you are performing any of these tasks, your employer must
provide you with appropriate respiratory protection, protective clothing and equipment, change areas, hand
washing facilities, biological monitoring, and training until such time that an exposure assessment is
conducted which demonstrates that your exposure level is below the PEL.
If you are exposed to lead and air sampling is performed, your employer is required to notify you in writing
within 5 working days of the air monitoring results which represent your exposure. If the results indicate that
your exposure exceeds the PEL (without regard to your use of a respirator), then your employer must also notify
you of this in writing, and provide you with a description of the corrective action that has been taken or will be
taken to reduce your exposure.
Your exposure must be rechecked by monitoring, at least every six months if your exposure is at or over the
action level but below the PEL. Your employer may discontinue monitoring for you if 2 consecutive
measurements, taken at least 7 days apart, are at or below the action level. Air monitoring must be repeated
every 3 months if you are exposed over the PEL. Your employer must continue monitoring for you at this
frequency until 2 consecutive measurements, taken at least 7 days apart, are below the PEL but above the
action level, at which time your employer must repeat monitoring of your exposure every six months and may
discontinue monitoring only after your exposure drops to or below the action level. However, whenever there is
a change of equipment, process, control, or personnel or a new type of job is added at your workplace which
may result in new or additional exposure to lead, your employer must perform additional monitoring.

III. Methods of Compliance—Paragraph (E)
Your employer is required to assure that no employee is exposed to lead in excess of the PEL as an 8-hour
TWA. The interim final standard for lead in construction requires employers to institute engineering and work
practice controls including administrative controls to the extent feasible to reduce employee exposure to lead.
Where such controls are feasible but not adequate to reduce exposures below the PEL they must be used
nonetheless to reduce exposures to the lowest level that can be accomplished by these means and then
supplemented with appropriate respiratory protection.
Your employer is required to develop and implement a written compliance program prior to the commencement
of any job where employee exposures may reach the PEL as an 8-hour TWA. The interim final standard
identifies the various elements that must be included in the plan. For example, employers are required to
include a description of operations in which lead is emitted, detailing other relevant information about the
operation such as the type of equipment used, the type of material involved, employee job responsibilities,
operating procedures and maintenance practices. In addition, your employer's compliance plan must specify
the means that will be used to achieve compliance and, where engineering controls are required, include any
engineering plans or studies that have been used to select the control methods. If administrative controls
involving job rotation are used to reduce employee exposure to lead, the job rotation schedule must be included
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in the compliance plan. The plan must also detail the type of protective clothing and equipment, including
respirators, housekeeping and hygiene practices that will be used to protect you from the adverse effects of
exposure to lead.
The written compliance program must be made available, upon request, to affected employees and their
designated representatives, the Assistant Secretary and the Director.
Finally, the plan must be reviewed and updated at least every 6 months to assure it reflects the current status in
exposure control.

IV. Respiratory Protection—Paragraph (F)
Your employer is required to provide and assure your use of respirators when your exposure to lead is not
controlled below the PEL by other means. The employer must pay the cost of the respirator. Whenever you
request one, your employer is also required to provide you a respirator even if your air exposure level is not
above the PEL. You might desire a respirator when, for example, you have received medical advice that your
lead absorption should be decreased. Or, you may intend to have children in the near future, and want to reduce
the level of lead in your body to minimize adverse reproductive effects. While respirators are the least
satisfactory means of controlling your exposure, they are capable of providing significant protection if properly
chosen, fitted, worn, cleaned, maintained, and replaced when they stop providing adequate protection.
Your employer is required to select your respirator according to the requirements of 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(3),
including the requirements referenced in 29 CFR 1910.134(d)(3)(i)(A) of this chapter. Any respirator chosen
must be approved by NIOSH under the provisions of 42 CFR part 84. These respirator selection references will
enable your employer to choose a type of respirator that will give you a proper amount of protection based on
your airborne lead exposure. Your employer may select a type of respirator that provides greater protection
than that required by the standard; that is, one recommended for a higher concentration of lead than is present
in your workplace. For example, a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) is much more protective than a
typical negative pressure respirator, and may also be more comfortable to wear. A PAPR has a filter, cartridge,
or canister to clean the air, and a power source that continuously blows filtered air into your breathing zone.
Your employer might make a PAPR available to you to ease the burden of having to wear a respirator for long
periods of time. The standard provides that you can obtain a PAPR upon request.
Your employer must also start a Respiratory Protection Program. This program must include written
procedures for the proper selection, use, cleaning, storage, and maintenance of respirators.
Your employer must ensure that your respirator facepiece fits properly. Proper fit of a respirator facepiece is
critical to your protection from airborne lead. Obtaining a proper fit on each employee may require your
employer to make available several different types of respirator masks. To ensure that your respirator fits
properly and that facepiece leakage is minimal, your employer must give you either a qualitative or quantitative
fit test as specified in appendix A of the Respiratory Protection standard located at 29 CFR 1910.134.
You must also receive from your employer proper training in the use of respirators. Your employer is required to
teach you how to wear a respirator, to know why it is needed, and to understand its limitations.

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The standard provides that if your respirator uses filter elements, you must be given an opportunity to change
the filter elements whenever an increase in breathing resistance is detected. You also must be permitted to
periodically leave your work area to wash your face and respirator facepiece whenever necessary to prevent
skin irritation. If you ever have difficulty in breathing during a fit test or while using a respirator, your employer
must make a medical examination available to you to determine whether you can safely wear a respirator. The
result of this examination may be to give you a positive pressure respirator (which reduces breathing
resistance) or to provide alternative means of protection.

V. Protective Work Clothing and Equipment—Paragraph (G)
If you are exposed to lead above the PEL as an 8-hour TWA, without regard to your use of a respirator, or if you
are exposed to lead compounds such as lead arsenate or lead azide which can cause skin and eye irritation,
your employer must provide you with protective work clothing and equipment appropriate for the hazard. If
work clothing is provided, it must be provided in a clean and dry condition at least weekly, and daily if your
airborne exposure to lead is greater than 200 µg/m3. Appropriate protective work clothing and equipment can
include coveralls or similar full-body work clothing, gloves, hats, shoes or disposable shoe coverlets, and face
shields or vented goggles. Your employer is required to provide all such equipment at no cost to you. In
addition, your employer is responsible for providing repairs and replacement as necessary, and also is
responsible for the cleaning, laundering or disposal of protective clothing and equipment.
The interim final standard requires that your employer assure that you follow good work practices when you are
working in areas where your exposure to lead may exceed the PEL. With respect to protective clothing and
equipment, where appropriate, the following procedures should be observed prior to beginning work:
1. Change into work clothing and shoe covers in the clean section of the designated changing areas;
2. Use work garments of appropriate protective gear, including respirators before entering the work area; and
3. Store any clothing not worn under protective clothing in the designated changing area.
Workers should follow these procedures upon leaving the work area:
1. HEPA vacuum heavily contaminated protective work clothing while it is still being worn. At no time may lead
be removed from protective clothing by any means which result in uncontrolled dispersal of lead into the air;
2. Remove shoe covers and leave them in the work area;
3. Remove protective clothing and gear in the dirty area of the designated changing area. Remove protective
coveralls by carefully rolling down the garment to reduce exposure to dust.
4. Remove respirators last; and
5. Wash hands and face.
Workers should follow these procedures upon finishing work for the day (in addition to procedures described
above):

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1. Where applicable, place disposal coveralls and shoe covers with the abatement waste;
2. Contaminated clothing which is to be cleaned, laundered or disposed of must be placed in closed containers
in the change room.
3. Clean protective gear, including respirators, according to standard procedures;
4. Wash hands and face again. If showers are available, take a shower and wash hair. If shower facilities are
not available at the work site, shower immediately at home and wash hair.

VI. Housekeeping—Paragraph (H)
Your employer must establish a housekeeping program sufficient to maintain all surfaces as free as
practicable of accumulations of lead dust. Vacuuming is the preferred method of meeting this requirement, and
the use of compressed air to clean floors and other surfaces is generally prohibited unless removal with
compressed air is done in conjunction with ventilation systems designed to contain dispersal of the lead dust.
Dry or wet sweeping, shoveling, or brushing may not be used except where vacuuming or other equally
effective methods have been tried and do not work. Vacuums must be used equipped with a special filter
called a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter and emptied in a manner which minimizes the reentry of
lead into the workplace.

VII. Hygiene Facilities and Practices—Paragraph (I)
The standard requires that hand washing facilities be provided where occupational exposure to lead occurs. In
addition, change areas, showers (where feasible), and lunchrooms or eating areas are to be made available to
workers exposed to lead above the PEL. Your employer must assure that except in these facilities, food and
beverage is not present or consumed, tobacco products are not present or used, and cosmetics are not
applied, where airborne exposures are above the PEL. Change rooms provided by your employer must be
equipped with separate storage facilities for your protective clothing and equipment and street clothes to avoid
cross-contamination. After showering, no required protective clothing or equipment worn during the shift may
be worn home. It is important that contaminated clothing or equipment be removed in change areas and not be
worn home or you will extend your exposure and expose your family since lead from your clothing can
accumulate in your house, car, etc.
Lunchrooms or eating areas may not be entered with protective clothing or equipment unless surface dust has
been removed by vacuuming, downdraft booth, or other cleaning method. Finally, workers exposed above the
PEL must wash both their hands and faces prior to eating, drinking, smoking or applying cosmetics.
All of the facilities and hygiene practices just discussed are essential to minimize additional sources of lead
absorption from inhalation or ingestion of lead that may accumulate on you, your clothes, or your possessions.
Strict compliance with these provisions can virtually eliminate several sources of lead exposure which
significantly contribute to excessive lead absorption.

VIII. Medical Surveillance—Paragraph (J)
The medical surveillance program is part of the standard's comprehensive approach to the prevention of leadrelated disease. Its purpose is to supplement the main thrust of the standard which is aimed at minimizing
airborne concentrations of lead and sources of ingestion. Only medical surveillance can determine if the other
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provisions of the standard have affectively protected you as an individual. Compliance with the standard's
provision will protect most workers from the adverse effects of lead exposure, but may not be satisfactory to
protect individual workers (1) who have high body burdens of lead acquired over past years, (2) who have
additional uncontrolled sources of non-occupational lead exposure, (3) who exhibit unusual variations in lead
absorption rates, or (4) who have specific non-work related medical conditions which could be aggravated by
lead exposure (e.g., renal disease, anemia). In addition, control systems may fail, or hygiene and respirator
programs may be inadequate. Periodic medical surveillance of individual workers will help detect those
failures. Medical surveillance will also be important to protect your reproductive ability-regardless of whether
you are a man or woman.
All medical surveillance required by the interim final standard must be performed by or under the supervision of
a licensed physician. The employer must provide required medical surveillance without cost to employees and
at a reasonable time and place. The standard's medical surveillance program has two parts—periodic biological
monitoring and medical examinations. Your employer's obligation to offer you medical surveillance is triggered
by the results of the air monitoring program. Full medical surveillance must be made available to all employees
who are or may be exposed to lead in excess of the action level for more than 30 days a year and whose blood
lead level exceeds 40 µg/dl. Initial medical surveillance consisting of blood sampling and analysis for lead and
zinc protoporphyrin must be provided to all employees exposed at any time (1 day) above the action level.
Biological monitoring under the standard must be provided at least every 2 months for the first 6 months and
every 6 months thereafter until your blood lead level is below 40 µg/dl. A zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) test is a
very useful blood test which measures an adverse metabolic effect of lead on your body and is therefore an
indicator of lead toxicity.
If your BLL exceeds 40 µg/dl the monitoring frequency must be increased from every 6 months to at least every
2 months and not reduced until two consecutive BLLs indicate a blood lead level below 40 µg/dl. Each time
your BLL is determined to be over 40 µg/dl, your employer must notify you of this in writing within five working
days of his or her receipt of the test results. The employer must also inform you that the standard requires
temporary medical removal with economic protection when your BLL exceeds 50 µg/dl. (See Discussion of
Medical Removal Protection-Paragraph (k).) Anytime your BLL exceeds 50 µg/dl your employer must make
available to you within two weeks of receipt of these test results a second follow-up BLL test to confirm your
BLL. If the two tests both exceed 50 µg/dl, and you are temporarily removed, then your employer must make
successive BLL tests available to you on a monthly basis during the period of your removal.
Medical examinations beyond the initial one must be made available on an annual basis if your blood lead level
exceeds 40 µg/dl at any time during the preceding year and you are being exposed above the airborne action
level of 30 µg/m3 for 30 or more days per year. The initial examination will provide information to establish a
baseline to which subsequent data can be compared.
An initial medical examination to consist of blood sampling and analysis for lead and zinc protoporphyrin must
also be made available (prior to assignment) for each employee being assigned for the first time to an area
where the airborne concentration of lead equals or exceeds the action level at any time. In addition, a medical
examination or consultation must be made available as soon as possible if you notify your employer that you
are experiencing signs or symptoms commonly associated with lead poisoning or that you have difficulty
breathing while wearing a respirator or during a respirator fit test. You must also be provided a medical
examination or consultation if you notify your employer that you desire medical advice concerning the effects
of current or past exposure to lead on your ability to procreate a healthy child.
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Finally, appropriate follow-up medical examinations or consultations may also be provided for employees who
have been temporarily removed from exposure under the medical removal protection provisions of the
standard. (See Part IX, below.)
The standard specifies the minimum content of pre-assignment and annual medical examinations. The content
of other types of medical examinations and consultations is left up to the sound discretion of the examining
physician. Pre-assignment and annual medical examinations must include (1) a detailed work history and
medical history; (2) a thorough physical examination, including an evaluation of your pulmonary status if you
will be required to use a respirator; (3) a blood pressure measurement; and (4) a series of laboratory tests
designed to check your blood chemistry and your kidney function. In addition, at any time upon your request, a
laboratory evaluation of male fertility will be made (microscopic examination of a sperm sample), or a
pregnancy test will be given.
The standard does not require that you participate in any of the medical procedures, tests, etc. which your
employer is required to make available to you. Medical surveillance can, however, play a very important role in
protecting your health. You are strongly encouraged, therefore, to participate in a meaningful fashion. The
standard contains a multiple physician review mechanism which will give you a chance to have a physician of
your choice directly participate in the medical surveillance program. If you are dissatisfied with an examination
by a physician chosen by your employer, you can select a second physician to conduct an independent
analysis. The two doctors would attempt to resolve any differences of opinion, and select a third physician to
resolve any firm dispute. Generally your employer will choose the physician who conducts medical surveillance
under the lead standard-unless you and your employer can agree on the choice of a physician or physicians.
Some companies and unions have agreed in advance, for example, to use certain independent medical
laboratories or panels of physicians. Any of these arrangements are acceptable so long as required medical
surveillance is made available to workers.
The standard requires your employer to provide certain information to a physician to aid in his or her
examination of you. This information includes (1) the standard and its appendices, (2) a description of your
duties as they relate to occupational lead exposure, (3) your exposure level or anticipated exposure level, (4) a
description of any personal protective equipment you wear, (5) prior blood lead level results, and (6) prior
written medical opinions concerning you that the employer has. After a medical examination or consultation
the physician must prepare a written report which must contain (1) the physician's opinion as to whether you
have any medical condition which places you at increased risk of material impairment to health from exposure
to lead, (2) any recommended special protective measures to be provided to you, (3) any blood lead level
determinations, and (4) any recommended limitation on your use of respirators. This last element must include
a determination of whether you can wear a powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) if you are found unable to
wear a negative pressure respirator.
The medical surveillance program of the interim lead standard may at some point in time serve to notify certain
workers that they have acquired a disease or other adverse medical condition as a result of occupational lead
exposure. If this is true, these workers might have legal rights to compensation from public agencies, their
employers, firms that supply hazardous products to their employers, or other persons. Some states have laws,
including worker compensation laws, that disallow a worker who learns of a job-related health impairment to
sue, unless the worker sues within a short period of time after learning of the impairment. (This period of time
may be a matter of months or years.) An attorney can be consulted about these possibilities. It should be
stressed that OSHA is in no way trying to either encourage or discourage claims or lawsuits. However, since
results of the standard's medical surveillance program can significantly affect the legal remedies of a worker
who has acquired a job-related disease or impairment, it is proper for OSHA to make you aware of this.
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The medical surveillance section of the standard also contains provisions dealing with chelation. Chelation is
the use of certain drugs (administered in pill form or injected into the body) to reduce the amount of lead
absorbed in body tissues. Experience accumulated by the medical and scientific communities has largely
confirmed the effectiveness of this type of therapy for the treatment of very severe lead poisoning. On the other
hand, it has also been established that there can be a long list of extremely harmful side effects associated
with the use of chelating agents. The medical community has balanced the advantages and disadvantages
resulting from the use of chelating agents in various circumstances and has established when the use of these
agents is acceptable. The standard includes these accepted limitations due to a history of abuse of chelation
therapy by some lead companies. The most widely used chelating agents are calcium disodium EDTA, (Ca Na2
EDTA), Calcium Disodium Versenate (Versenate), and d-penicillamine (pencillamine or Cupramine).
The standard prohibits “prophylactic chelation” of any employee by any person the employer retains, supervises
or controls. Prophylactic chelation is the routine use of chelating or similarly acting drugs to prevent elevated
blood levels in workers who are occupationally exposed to lead, or the use of these drugs to routinely lower
blood lead levels to predesignated concentrations believed to be “safe”. It should be emphasized that where an
employer takes a worker who has no symptoms of lead poisoning and has chelation carried out by a physician
(either inside or outside of a hospital) solely to reduce the worker's blood lead level, that will generally be
considered prophylactic chelation. The use of a hospital and a physician does not mean that prophylactic
chelation is not being performed. Routine chelation to prevent increased or reduce current blood lead levels is
unacceptable whatever the setting.
The standard allows the use of “therapeutic” or “diagnostic” chelation if administered under the supervision of
a licensed physician in a clinical setting with thorough and appropriate medical monitoring. Therapeutic
chelation responds to severe lead poisoning where there are marked symptoms. Diagnostic chelation involved
giving a patient a dose of the drug then collecting all urine excreted for some period of time as an aid to the
diagnosis of lead poisoning.
In cases where the examining physician determines that chelation is appropriate, you must be notified in
writing of this fact before such treatment. This will inform you of a potentially harmful treatment, and allow you
to obtain a second opinion.

IX. Medical Removal Protection—Paragraph (K)
Excessive lead absorption subjects you to increased risk of disease. Medical removal protection (MRP) is a
means of protecting you when, for whatever reasons, other methods, such as engineering controls, work
practices, and respirators, have failed to provide the protection you need. MRP involves the temporary removal
of a worker from his or her regular job to a place of significantly lower exposure without any loss of earnings,
seniority, or other employment rights or benefits. The purpose of this program is to cease further lead
absorption and allow your body to naturally excrete lead which has previously been absorbed. Temporary
medical removal can result from an elevated blood lead level, or a medical opinion. For up to 18 months, or for
as long as the job the employee was removed from lasts, protection is provided as a result of either form of
removal. The vast majority of removed workers, however, will return to their former jobs long before this
eighteen month period expires.
You may also be removed from exposure even if your blood lead level is below 50 µg/dl if a final medical
determination indicates that you temporarily need reduced lead exposure for medical reasons. If the physician
who is implementing your employers medical program makes a final written opinion recommending your
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removal or other special protective measures, your employer must implement the physician's recommendation.
If you are removed in this manner, you may only be returned when the doctor indicates that it is safe for you to
do so.
The standard does not give specific instructions dealing with what an employer must do with a removed
worker. Your job assignment upon removal is a matter for you, your employer and your union (if any) to work
out consistent with existing procedures for job assignments. Each removal must be accomplished in a manner
consistent with existing collective bargaining relationships. Your employer is given broad discretion to
implement temporary removals so long as no attempt is made to override existing agreements. Similarly, a
removed worker is provided no right to veto an employer's choice which satisfies the standard.
In most cases, employers will likely transfer removed employees to other jobs with sufficiently low lead
exposure. Alternatively, a worker's hours may be reduced so that the time weighted average exposure is
reduced, or he or she may be temporarily laid off if no other alternative is feasible.
In all of these situation, MRP benefits must be provided during the period of removal—i.e., you continue to
receive the same earnings, seniority, and other rights and benefits you would have had if you had not been
removed. Earnings includes more than just your base wage; it includes overtime, shift differentials, incentives,
and other compensation you would have earned if you had not been removed. During the period of removal you
must also be provided with appropriate follow-up medical surveillance. If you were removed because your
blood lead level was too high, you must be provided with a monthly blood test. If a medical opinion caused your
removal, you must be provided medical tests or examinations that the doctor believes to be appropriate. If you
do not participate in this follow up medical surveillance, you may lose your eligibility for MRP benefits.
When you are medically eligible to return to your former job, your employer must return you to your “former job
status.” This means that you are entitled to the position, wages, benefits, etc., you would have had if you had
not been removed. If you would still be in your old job if no removal had occurred that is where you go back. If
not, you are returned consistent with whatever job assignment discretion your employer would have had if no
removal had occurred. MRP only seeks to maintain your rights, not expand them or diminish them.
If you are removed under MRP and you are also eligible for worker compensation or other compensation for
lost wages, your employer's MRP benefits obligation is reduced by the amount that you actually receive from
these other sources. This is also true if you obtain other employment during the time you are laid off with MRP
benefits.
The standard also covers situations where an employer voluntarily removes a worker from exposure to lead
due to the effects of lead on the employee's medical condition, even though the standard does not require
removal. In these situations MRP benefits must still be provided as though the standard required removal.
Finally, it is important to note that in all cases where removal is required, respirators cannot be used as a
substitute. Respirators may be used before removal becomes necessary, but not as an alternative to a transfer
to a low exposure job, or to a lay-off with MRP benefits.

X. Employee Information and Training—Paragraph (L)
Your employer is required to provide an information and training program for all employees exposed to lead
above the action level or who may suffer skin or eye irritation from lead compounds such as lead arsenate or
lead azide. The program must train these employees regarding the specific hazards associated with their work
environment, protective measures which can be taken, including the contents of any compliance plan in effect,
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the danger of lead to their bodies (including their reproductive systems), and their rights under the standard. All
employees must be trained prior to initial assignment to areas where there is a possibility of exposure over the
action level.
This training program must also be provided at least annually thereafter unless further exposure above the
action level will not occur.

XI. Signs—Paragraph (M)
The standard requires that the following warning sign be posted in work areas when the exposure to lead is
above the PEL:
DANGER
LEAD WORK AREA
MAY DAMAGE FERTILITY OR THE UNBORN CHILD
CAUSES DAMAGE TO THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
DO NOT EAT, DRINK OR SMOKE IN THIS AREA
Prior to June 1, 2016, employers may use the following legend in lieu of that specified above:
WARNING
LEAD WORK AREA
POISON
NO SMOKING OR EATING

XII. Recordkeeping—Paragraph (N)
Your employer is required to keep all records of exposure monitoring for airborne lead. These records must
include the name and job classification of employees measured, details of the sampling and analytical
techniques, the results of this sampling, and the type of respiratory protection being worn by the person
sampled. Such records are to be retained for at least 30 years. Your employer is also required to keep all
records of biological monitoring and medical examination results. These records must include the names of
the employees, the physician's written opinion, and a copy of the results of the examination. Medical records
must be preserved and maintained for the duration of employment plus 30 years. However, if the employee's
duration of employment is less than one year, the employer need not retain that employee's medical records
beyond the period of employment if they are provided to the employee upon termination of employment.

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Recordkeeping is also required if you are temporarily removed from your job under the medical removal
protection program. This record must include your name, the date of your removal and return, how the removal
was or is being accomplished, and whether or not the reason for the removal was an elevated blood lead level.
Your employer is required to keep each medical removal record only for as long as the duration of an
employee's employment.
The standard requires that if you request to see or copy environmental monitoring, blood lead level monitoring,
or medical removal records, they must be made available to you or to a representative that you authorize. Your
union also has access to these records. Medical records other than BLL's must also be provided upon request
to you, to your physician or to any other person whom you may specifically designate. Your union does not have
access to your personal medical records unless you authorize their access.

XIII. Observation of Monitoring—Paragraph (O)
When air monitoring for lead is performed at your workplace as required by this standard, your employer must
allow you or someone you designate to act as an observer of the monitoring. Observers are entitled to an
explanation of the measurement procedure, and to record the results obtained. Since results will not normally
be available at the time of the monitoring, observers are entitled to record or receive the results of the
monitoring when returned by the laboratory. Your employer is required to provide the observer with any
personal protective devices required to be worn by employees working in the area that is being monitored. The
employer must require the observer to wear all such equipment and to comply with all other applicable safety
and health procedures.

XIV. For Additional Information
A. A copy of the interim standard for lead in construction can be obtained free of charge by calling or writing
the OSHA Office of Publications, room N-3101, United States Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20210:
Telephone (202) 219-4667.
B. Additional information about the standard, its enforcement, and your employer's compliance can be obtained
from the nearest OSHA Area Office listed in your telephone directory under United States Government/
Department of Labor.

Appendix C to § 1926.62—Medical Surveillance Guidelines
Introduction
The primary purpose of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is to assure, so far as possible, safe
and healthful working conditions for every working man and woman. The interim final occupational health
standard for lead in construction is designed to protect workers exposed to inorganic lead including metallic
lead, all inorganic lead compounds and organic lead soaps.
Under this interim final standard occupational exposure to inorganic lead is to be limited to 50 µg/m3
(micrograms per cubic meter) based on an 8 hour time-weighted average (TWA). This permissible exposure
limit (PEL) must be achieved through a combination of engineering, work practice and administrative controls

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to the extent feasible. Where these controls are in place but are found not to reduce employee exposures to or
below the PEL, they must be used nonetheless, and supplemented with respirators to meet the 50 µg/m3
exposure limit.
The standard also provides for a program of biological monitoring for employees exposed to lead above the
action level at any time, and additional medical surveillance for all employees exposed to levels of inorganic
lead above 30 µg/m3 (TWA) for more than 30 days per year and whose BLL exceeds 40 µg/dl.
The purpose of this document is to outline the medical surveillance provisions of the interim standard for
inorganic lead in construction, and to provide further information to the physician regarding the examination
and evaluation of workers exposed to inorganic lead.
Section 1 provides a detailed description of the monitoring procedure including the required frequency of blood
testing for exposed workers, provisions for medical removal protection (MRP), the recommended right of the
employee to a second medical opinion, and notification and recordkeeping requirements of the employer. A
discussion of the requirements for respirator use and respirator monitoring and OSHA's position on
prophylactic chelation therapy are also included in this section.
Section 2 discusses the toxic effects and clinical manifestations of lead poisoning and effects of lead
intoxication on enzymatic pathways in heme synthesis. The adverse effects on both male and female
reproductive capacity and on the fetus are also discussed.
Section 3 outlines the recommended medical evaluation of the worker exposed to inorganic lead, including
details of the medical history, physical examination, and recommended laboratory tests, which are based on
the toxic effects of lead as discussed in Section 2.
Section 4 provides detailed information concerning the laboratory tests available for the monitoring of exposed
workers. Included also is a discussion of the relative value of each test and the limitations and precautions
which are necessary in the interpretation of the laboratory results.

I. Medical Surveillance and Monitoring Requirements for Workers Exposed to
Inorganic Lead
Under the interim final standard for inorganic lead in the construction industry, initial medical surveillance
consisting of biological monitoring to include blood lead and ZPP level determination shall be provided to
employees exposed to lead at or above the action level on any one day. In addition, a program of biological
monitoring is to be made available to all employees exposed above the action level at any time and additional
medical surveillance is to be made available to all employees exposed to lead above 30 µg/m3 TWA for more
than 30 days each year and whose BLL exceeds 40 µg/dl. This program consists of periodic blood sampling
and medical evaluation to be performed on a schedule which is defined by previous laboratory results, worker
complaints or concerns, and the clinical assessment of the examining physician.
Under this program, the blood lead level (BLL) of all employees who are exposed to lead above 30 µg/m3 for
more than 30 days per year or whose blood lead is above 40 µg/dl but exposed for no more than 30 days per
year is to be determined at least every two months for the first six months of exposure and every six months
thereafter. The frequency is increased to every two months for employees whose last blood lead level was 40

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µg/dl or above. For employees who are removed from exposure to lead due to an elevated blood lead, a new
blood lead level must be measured monthly. A zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) measurement is strongly
recommended on each occasion that a blood lead level measurement is made.
An annual medical examination and consultation performed under the guidelines discussed in Section 3 is to
be made available to each employee exposed above 30 µg/m3 for more than 30 days per year for whom a
blood test conducted at any time during the preceding 12 months indicated a blood lead level at or above 40
µg/dl. Also, an examination is to be given to all employees prior to their assignment to an area in which
airborne lead concentrations reach or exceed the 30 µg/m3 for more than 30 days per year. In addition, a
medical examination must be provided as soon as possible after notification by an employee that the
employee has developed signs or symptoms commonly associated with lead intoxication, that the employee
desires medical advice regarding lead exposure and the ability to procreate a healthy child, or that the
employee has demonstrated difficulty in breathing during a respirator fitting test or during respirator use. An
examination is also to be made available to each employee removed from exposure to lead due to a risk of
sustaining material impairment to health, or otherwise limited or specially protected pursuant to medical
recommendations.
Results of biological monitoring or the recommendations of an examining physician may necessitate removal
of an employee from further lead exposure pursuant to the standard's medical removal protection (MRP)
program. The object of the MRP program is to provide temporary medical removal to workers either with
substantially elevated blood lead levels or otherwise at risk of sustaining material health impairment from
continued substantial exposure to lead.
Under the standard's ultimate worker removal criteria, a worker is to be removed from any work having an eight
hour TWA exposure to lead of 30 µg/m3 when his or her blood lead level reaches 50 µg/dl and is confirmed by
a second follow-up blood lead level performed within two weeks after the employer receives the results of the
first blood sampling test. Return of the employee to his or her job status depends on a worker's blood lead level
declining to 40 µg/dl.
As part of the interim standard, the employer is required to notify in writing each employee whose blood lead
level exceeds 40 µg/dl. In addition each such employee is to be informed that the standard requires medical
removal with MRP benefits, discussed below, when an employee's blood lead level exceeds the above defined
limit.
In addition to the above blood lead level criterion, temporary worker removal may also take place as a result of
medical determinations and recommendations. Written medical opinions must be prepared after each
examination pursuant to the standard. If the examining physician includes a medical finding, determination or
opinion that the employee has a medical condition which places the employee at increased risk of material
health impairment from exposure to lead, then the employee must be removed from exposure to lead at or
above 30 µg/m3. Alternatively, if the examining physician recommends special protective measures for an
employee (e.g., use of a powered air purifying respirator) or recommends limitations on an employee's
exposure to lead, then the employer must implement these recommendations.
Recommendations may be more stringent than the specific provisions of the standard. The examining
physician, therefore, is given broad flexibility to tailor special protective procedures to the needs of individual
employees. This flexibility extends to the evaluation and management of pregnant workers and male and
female workers who are planning to raise children. Based on the history, physical examination, and laboratory
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studies, the physician might recommend special protective measures or medical removal for an employee who
is pregnant or who is planning to conceive a child when, in the physician's judgment, continued exposure to
lead at the current job would pose a significant risk. The return of the employee to his or her former job status,
or the removal of special protections or limitations, depends upon the examining physician determining that
the employee is no longer at increased risk of material impairment or that special measures are no longer
needed.
During the period of any form of special protection or removal, the employer must maintain the worker's
earnings, seniority, and other employment rights and benefits (as though the worker had not been removed) for
a period of up to 18 months or for as long as the job the employee was removed from lasts if less than 18
months. This economic protection will maximize meaningful worker participation in the medical surveillance
program, and is appropriate as part of the employer's overall obligation to provide a safe and healthful
workplace. The provisions of MRP benefits during the employee's removal period may, however, be conditioned
upon participation in medical surveillance.
The lead standard provides for a multiple physician review in cases where the employee wishes a second
opinion concerning potential lead poisoning or toxicity. If an employee wishes a second opinion, he or she can
make an appointment with a physician of his or her choice. This second physician will review the findings,
recommendations or determinations of the first physician and conduct any examinations, consultations or
tests deemed necessary in an attempt to make a final medical determination. If the first and second physicians
do not agree in their assessment they must try to resolve their differences. If they cannot reach an agreement
then they must designate a third physician to resolve the dispute.
The employer must provide examining and consulting physicians with the following specific information: A
copy of the lead regulations and all appendices, a description of the employee's duties as related to exposure,
the exposure level or anticipated level to lead and any other toxic substances (if applicable), a description of
personal protective equipment used, blood lead levels, and all prior written medical opinions regarding the
employee in the employer's possession or control. The employer must also obtain from the physician and
provide the employee with a written medical opinion containing blood lead levels, the physicians's opinion as to
whether the employee is at risk of material impairment to health, any recommended protective measures for
the employee if further exposure is permitted, as well as any recommended limitations upon an employee's use
of respirators.
Employers must instruct each physician not to reveal to the employer in writing or in any other way his or her
findings, laboratory results, or diagnoses which are felt to be unrelated to occupational lead exposure. They
must also instruct each physician to advise the employee of any occupationally or non-occupationally related
medical condition requiring further treatment or evaluation.
The standard provides for the use of respirators where engineering and other primary controls are not effective.
However, the use of respirator protection shall not be used in lieu of temporary medical removal due to
elevated blood lead levels or findings that an employee is at risk of material health impairment. This is based
on the numerous inadequacies of respirators including skin rash where the facepiece makes contact with the
skin, unacceptable stress to breathing in some workers with underlying cardiopulmonary impairment, difficulty
in providing adequate fit, the tendency for respirators to create additional hazards by interfering with vision,
hearing, and mobility, and the difficulties of assuring the maximum effectiveness of a complicated work
practice program involving respirators. Respirators do, however, serve a useful function where engineering and

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work practice controls are inadequate by providing supplementary, interim, or short-term protection, provided
they are properly selected for the environment in which the employee will be working, properly fitted to the
employee, maintained and cleaned periodically, and worn by the employee when required.
In its interim final standard on occupational exposure to inorganic lead in the construction industry, OSHA has
prohibited prophylactic chelation. Diagnostic and therapeutic chelation are permitted only under the
supervision of a licensed physician with appropriate medical monitoring in an acceptable clinical setting. The
decision to initiate chelation therapy must be made on an individual basis and take into account the severity of
symptoms felt to be a result of lead toxicity along with blood lead levels, ZPP levels, and other laboratory tests
as appropriate. EDTA and penicillamine which are the primary chelating agents used in the therapy of
occupational lead poisoning have significant potential side effects and their use must be justified on the basis
of expected benefits to the worker. Unless frank and severe symptoms are present, therapeutic chelation is not
recommended, given the opportunity to remove a worker from exposure and allow the body to naturally excrete
accumulated lead. As a diagnostic aid, the chelation mobilization test using CA-EDTA has limited applicability.
According to some investigators, the test can differentiate between lead-induced and other nephropathies. The
test may also provide an estimation of the mobile fraction of the total body lead burden.
Employers are required to assure that accurate records are maintained on exposure assessment, including
environmental monitoring, medical surveillance, and medical removal for each employee. Exposure
assessment records must be kept for at least 30 years. Medical surveillance records must be kept for the
duration of employment plus 30 years except in cases where the employment was less than one year. If
duration of employment is less than one year, the employer need not retain this record beyond the term of
employment if the record is provided to the employee upon termination of employment. Medical removal
records also must be maintained for the duration of employment. All records required under the standard must
be made available upon request to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health and the
Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Employers must also make environmental
and biological monitoring and medical removal records available to affected employees and to former
employees or their authorized employee representatives. Employees or their specifically designated
representatives have access to their entire medical surveillance records.
In addition, the standard requires that the employer inform all workers exposed to lead at or above 30 µg/m3 of
the provisions of the standard and all its appendices, the purpose and description of medical surveillance and
provisions for medical removal protection if temporary removal is required. An understanding of the potential
health effects of lead exposure by all exposed employees along with full understanding of their rights under the
lead standard is essential for an effective monitoring program.

II. Adverse Health Effects of Inorganic Lead
Although the toxicity of lead has been known for 2,000 years, the knowledge of the complex relationship
between lead exposure and human response is still being refined. Significant research into the toxic properties
of lead continues throughout the world, and it should be anticipated that our understanding of thresholds of
effects and margins of safety will be improved in future years. The provisions of the lead standard are founded
on two prime medical judgments: First, the prevention of adverse health effects from exposure to lead
throughout a working lifetime requires that worker blood lead levels be maintained at or below 40 µg/dl and
second, the blood lead levels of workers, male or female, who intend to parent in the near future should be
maintained below 30 µg/dl to minimize adverse reproductive health effects to the parents and developing

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fetus. The adverse effects of lead on reproduction are being actively researched and OSHA encourages the
physician to remain abreast of recent developments in the area to best advise pregnant workers or workers
planning to conceive children.
The spectrum of health effects caused by lead exposure can be subdivided into five developmental stages:
Normal, physiological changes of uncertain significance, pathophysiological changes, overt symptoms
(morbidity), and mortality. Within this process there are no sharp distinctions, but rather a continuum of effects.
Boundaries between categories overlap due to the wide variation of individual responses and exposures in the
working population. OSHA's development of the lead standard focused on pathophysiological changes as well
as later stages of disease.
1. Heme Synthesis Inhibition. The earliest demonstrated effect of lead involves its ability to inhibit at least two
enzymes of the heme synthesis pathway at very low blood levels. Inhibition of delta aminolevulinic acid
dehydrase (ALA-D) which catalyzes the conversion of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) to protoporphyrin is
observed at a blood lead level below 20 µg/dl. At a blood lead level of 40 µg/dl, more than 20% of the
population would have 70% inhibition of ALA-D. There is an exponential increase in ALA excretion at blood lead
levels greater than 40 µg/dl.
Another enzyme, ferrochelatase, is also inhibited at low blood lead levels. Inhibition of ferrochelatase leads to
increased free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP) in the blood which can then bind to zinc to yield zinc
protoporphyrin. At a blood lead level of 50 µg/dl or greater, nearly 100% of the population will have an increase
in FEP. There is also an exponential relationship between blood lead levels greater than 40 µg/dl and the
associated ZPP level, which has led to the development of the ZPP screening test for lead exposure.
While the significance of these effects is subject to debate, it is OSHA's position that these enzyme
disturbances are early stages of a disease process which may eventually result in the clinical symptoms of
lead poisoning. Whether or not the effects do progress to the later stages of clinical disease, disruption of
these enzyme processes over a working lifetime is considered to be a material impairment of health.
One of the eventual results of lead-induced inhibition of enzymes in the heme synthesis pathway is anemia
which can be asymptomatic if mild but associated with a wide array of symptoms including dizziness, fatigue,
and tachycardia when more severe. Studies have indicated that lead levels as low as 50 µg/dl can be
associated with a definite decreased hemoglobin, although most cases of lead-induced anemia, as well as
shortened red-cell survival times, occur at lead levels exceeding 80 µg/dl. Inhibited hemoglobin synthesis is
more common in chronic cases whereas shortened erythrocyte life span is more common in acute cases.
In lead-induced anemias, there is usually a reticulocytosis along with the presence of basophilic stippling, and
ringed sideroblasts, although none of the above are pathognomonic for lead-induced anemia.
2. Neurological Effects. Inorganic lead has been found to have toxic effects on both the central and peripheral
nervous systems. The earliest stages of lead-induced central nervous system effects first manifest themselves
in the form of behavioral disturbances and central nervous system symptoms including irritability, restlessness,
insomnia and other sleep disturbances, fatigue, vertigo, headache, poor memory, tremor, depression, and
apathy. With more severe exposure, symptoms can progress to drowsiness, stupor, hallucinations, delirium,
convulsions and coma.

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The most severe and acute form of lead poisoning which usually follows ingestion or inhalation of large
amounts of lead is acute encephalopathy which may arise precipitously with the onset of intractable seizures,
coma, cardiorespiratory arrest, and death within 48 hours.
While there is disagreement about what exposure levels are needed to produce the earliest symptoms, most
experts agree that symptoms definitely can occur at blood lead levels of 60 µg/dl whole blood and therefore
recommend a 40 µg/dl maximum. The central nervous system effects frequently are not reversible following
discontinued exposure or chelation therapy and when improvement does occur, it is almost always only partial.
The peripheral neuropathy resulting from lead exposure characteristically involves only motor function with
minimal sensory damage and has a marked predilection for the extensor muscles of the most active extremity.
The peripheral neuropathy can occur with varying degrees of severity. The earliest and mildest form which can
be detected in workers with blood lead levels as low as 50 µg/dl is manifested by slowing of motor nerve
conduction velocity often without clinical symptoms. With progression of the neuropathy there is development
of painless extensor muscle weakness usually involving the extensor muscles of the fingers and hand in the
most active upper extremity, followed in severe cases by wrist drop or, much less commonly, foot drop.
In addition to slowing of nerve conduction, electromyographical studies in patients with blood lead levels
greater than 50 µg/dl have demonstrated a decrease in the number of acting motor unit potentials, an increase
in the duration of motor unit potentials, and spontaneous pathological activity including fibrillations and
fasciculations. Whether these effects occur at levels of 40 µg/dl is undetermined.
While the peripheral neuropathies can occasionally be reversed with therapy, again such recovery is not
assured particularly in the more severe neuropathies and often improvement is only partial. The lack of
reversibility is felt to be due in part to segmental demyelination.
3. Gastrointestinal. Lead may also affect the gastrointestinal system producing abdominal colic or diffuse
abdominal pain, constipation, obstipation, diarrhea, anorexia, nausea and vomiting. Lead colic rarely develops
at blood lead levels below 80 µg/dl.
4. Renal. Renal toxicity represents one of the most serious health effects of lead poisoning. In the early stages
of disease nuclear inclusion bodies can frequently be identified in proximal renal tubular cells. Renal function
remains normal and the changes in this stage are probably reversible. With more advanced disease there is
progressive interstitial fibrosis and impaired renal function. Eventually extensive interstitial fibrosis ensues with
sclerotic glomeruli and dilated and atrophied proximal tubules; all represent end stage kidney disease.
Azotemia can be progressive, eventually resulting in frank uremia necessitating dialysis. There is occasionally
associated hypertension and hyperuricemia with or without gout.
Early kidney disease is difficult to detect. The urinalysis is normal in early lead nephropathy and the blood urea
nitrogen and serum creatinine increase only when two-thirds of kidney function is lost. Measurement of
creatinine clearance can often detect earlier disease as can other methods of measurement of glomerular
filtration rate. An abnormal Ca-EDTA mobilization test has been used to differentiate between lead-induced and
other nephropathies, but this procedure is not widely accepted. A form of Fanconi syndrome with
aminoaciduria, glycosuria, and hyperphosphaturia indicating severe injury to the proximal renal tubules is
occasionally seen in children.

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5. Reproductive effects. Exposure to lead can have serious effects on reproductive function in both males and
females. In male workers exposed to lead there can be a decrease in sexual drive, impotence, decreased ability
to produce healthy sperm, and sterility. Malformed sperm (teratospermia), decreased number of sperm
(hypospermia), and sperm with decreased motility (asthenospermia) can all occur. Teratospermia has been
noted at mean blood lead levels of 53 µg/dl and hypospermia and asthenospermia at 41 µg/dl. Furthermore,
there appears to be a dose-response relationship for teratospermia in lead exposed workers.
Women exposed to lead may experience menstrual disturbances including dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia and
amenorrhea. Following exposure to lead, women have a higher frequency of sterility, premature births,
spontaneous miscarriages, and stillbirths.
Germ cells can be affected by lead and cause genetic damage in the egg or sperm cells before conception and
result in failure to implant, miscarriage, stillbirth, or birth defects.
Infants of mothers with lead poisoning have a higher mortality during the first year and suffer from lowered
birth weights, slower growth, and nervous system disorders.
Lead can pass through the placental barrier and lead levels in the mother's blood are comparable to
concentrations of lead in the umbilical cord at birth. Transplacental passage becomes detectable at 12-14
weeks of gestation and increases until birth.
There is little direct data on damage to the fetus from exposure to lead but it is generally assumed that the
fetus and newborn would be at least as susceptible to neurological damage as young children. Blood lead
levels of 50-60 µg/dl in children can cause significant neurobehavioral impairments and there is evidence of
hyperactivity at blood levels as low as 25 µg/dl. Given the overall body of literature concerning the adverse
health effects of lead in children, OSHA feels that the blood lead level in children should be maintained below
30 µg/dl with a population mean of 15 µg/dl. Blood lead levels in the fetus and newborn likewise should not
exceed 30 µg/dl.
Because of lead's ability to pass through the placental barrier and also because of the demonstrated adverse
effects of lead on reproductive function in both the male and female as well as the risk of genetic damage of
lead on both the ovum and sperm, OSHA recommends a 30 µg/dl maximum permissible blood lead level in
both males and females who wish to bear children.
6. Other toxic effects. Debate and research continue on the effects of lead on the human body. Hypertension
has frequently been noted in occupationally exposed individuals although it is difficult to assess whether this is
due to lead's adverse effects on the kidney or if some other mechanism is involved. Vascular and
electrocardiographic changes have been detected but have not been well characterized. Lead is thought to
impair thyroid function and interfere with the pituitary-adrenal axis, but again these effects have not been well
defined.

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III. Medical Evaluation
The most important principle in evaluating a worker for any occupational disease including lead poisoning is a
high index of suspicion on the part of the examining physician. As discussed in Section 2, lead can affect
numerous organ systems and produce a wide array of signs and symptoms, most of which are non-specific
and subtle in nature at least in the early stages of disease. Unless serious concern for lead toxicity is present,
many of the early clues to diagnosis may easily be overlooked.
The crucial initial step in the medical evaluation is recognizing that a worker's employment can result in
exposure to lead. The worker will frequently be able to define exposures to lead and lead containing materials
but often will not volunteer this information unless specifically asked. In other situations the worker may not
know of any exposures to lead but the suspicion might be raised on the part of the physician because of the
industry or occupation of the worker. Potential occupational exposure to lead and its compounds occur in
many occupations in the construction industry, including demolition and salvaging operations, removal or
encapsulation of materials containing lead, construction, alteration, repair or renovation of structures
containing lead, transportation, disposal, storage or containment of lead or lead-containing materials on
construction sites, and maintenance operations associated with construction activities.
Once the possibility for lead exposure is raised, the focus can then be directed toward eliciting information
from the medical history, physical exam, and finally from laboratory data to evaluate the worker for potential
lead toxicity.
A complete and detailed work history is important in the initial evaluation. A listing of all previous employment
with information on job description, exposure to fumes or dust, known exposures to lead or other toxic
substances, a description of any personal protective equipment used, and previous medical surveillance should
all be included in the worker's record. Where exposure to lead is suspected, information concerning on-the-job
personal hygiene, smoking or eating habits in work areas, laundry procedures, and use of any protective
clothing or respiratory protection equipment should be noted. A complete work history is essential in the
medical evaluation of a worker with suspected lead toxicity, especially when long term effects such as
neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity are considered.
The medical history is also of fundamental importance and should include a listing of all past and current
medical conditions, current medications including proprietary drug intake, previous surgeries and
hospitalizations, allergies, smoking history, alcohol consumption, and also non-occupational lead exposures
such as hobbies (hunting, riflery). Also known childhood exposures should be elicited. Any previous history of
hematological, neurological, gastrointestinal, renal, psychological, gynecological, genetic, or reproductive
problems should be specifically noted.
A careful and complete review of systems must be performed to assess both recognized complaints and
subtle or slowly acquired symptoms which the worker might not appreciate as being significant. The review of
symptoms should include the following:
1. General—weight loss, fatigue, decreased appetite.
2. Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose, Throat (HEENT)—headaches, visual disturbances or decreased visual acuity, hearing
deficits or tinnitus, pigmentation of the oral mucosa, or metallic taste in mouth.

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3. Cardio-pulmonary—shortness of breath, cough, chest pains, palpitations, or orthopnea.
4. Gastrointestinal—nausea, vomiting, heartburn, abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea.
5. Neurologic—irritability, insomnia, weakness (fatigue), dizziness, loss of memory, confusion, hallucinations,
incoordination, ataxia, decreased strength in hands or feet, disturbances in gait, difficulty in climbing stairs, or
seizures.
6. Hematologic—pallor, easy fatigability, abnormal blood loss, melena.
7. Reproductive (male and female and spouse where relevant)—history of infertility, impotence, loss of libido,
abnormal menstrual periods, history of miscarriages, stillbirths, or children with birth defects.
8. Musculo-skeletal—muscle and joint pains.
The physical examination should emphasize the neurological, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular systems.
The worker's weight and blood pressure should be recorded and the oral mucosa checked for pigmentation
characteristic of a possible Burtonian or lead line on the gingiva. It should be noted, however, that the lead line
may not be present even in severe lead poisoning if good oral hygiene is practiced.
The presence of pallor on skin examination may indicate an anemia which, if severe, might also be associated
with a tachycardia. If an anemia is suspected, an active search for blood loss should be undertaken including
potential blood loss through the gastrointestinal tract.
A complete neurological examination should include an adequate mental status evaluation including a search
for behavioral and psychological disturbances, memory testing, evaluation for irritability, insomnia,
hallucinations, and mental clouding. Gait and coordination should be examined along with close observation
for tremor. A detailed evaluation of peripheral nerve function including careful sensory and motor function
testing is warranted. Strength testing particularly of extensor muscle groups of all extremities is of
fundamental importance.
Cranial nerve evaluation should also be included in the routine examination.
The abdominal examination should include auscultation for bowel sounds and abdominal bruits and palpation
for organomegaly, masses, and diffuse abdominal tenderness.
Cardiovascular examination should evaluate possible early signs of congestive heart failure. Pulmonary status
should be addressed particularly if respirator protection is contemplated.
As part of the medical evaluation, the interim lead standard requires the following laboratory studies:
1. Blood lead level
2. Hemoglobin and hematocrit determinations, red cell indices, and examination of the peripheral blood smear
to evaluate red blood cell morphology
3. Blood urea nitrogen
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4. Serum creatinine
5. Routine urinalysis with microscopic examination.
6. A zinc protoporphyrin level.
In addition to the above, the physician is authorized to order any further laboratory or other tests which he or
she deems necessary in accordance with sound medical practice. The evaluation must also include pregnancy
testing or laboratory evaluation of male fertility if requested by the employee. Additional tests which are
probably not warranted on a routine basis but may be appropriate when blood lead and ZPP levels are
equivocal include delta aminolevulinic acid and coproporphyrin concentrations in the urine, and dark-field
illumination for detection of basophilic stippling in red blood cells.
If an anemia is detected further studies including a careful examination of the peripheral smear, reticulocyte
count, stool for occult blood, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, bilirubin, and, if appropriate, vitamin B12
and folate may be of value in attempting to identify the cause of the anemia.
If a peripheral neuropathy is suspected, nerve conduction studies are warranted both for diagnosis and as a
basis to monitor any therapy.
If renal disease is questioned, a 24 hour urine collection for creatinine clearance, protein, and electrolytes may
be indicated. Elevated uric acid levels may result from lead-induced renal disease and a serum uric acid level
might be performed.
An electrocardiogram and chest x-ray may be obtained as deemed appropriate.
Sophisticated and highly specialized testing should not be done routinely and where indicated should be under
the direction of a specialist.

IV. Laboratory Evaluation
The blood lead level at present remains the single most important test to monitor lead exposure and is the test
used in the medical surveillance program under the lead standard to guide employee medical removal. The
ZPP has several advantages over the blood lead level. Because of its relatively recent development and the lack
of extensive data concerning its interpretation, the ZPP currently remains an ancillary test.
This section will discuss the blood lead level and ZPP in detail and will outline their relative advantages and
disadvantages. Other blood tests currently available to evaluate lead exposure will also be reviewed.
The blood lead level is a good index of current or recent lead absorption when there is no anemia present and
when the worker has not taken any chelating agents. However, blood lead levels along with urinary lead levels
do not necessarily indicate the total body burden of lead and are not adequate measures of past exposure. One
reason for this is that lead has a high affinity for bone and up to 90% of the body's total lead is deposited there.
A very important component of the total lead body burden is lead in soft tissue (liver, kidney, and brain). This
fraction of the lead body burden, the biologically active lead, is not entirely reflected by blood lead levels since it
is a function of the dynamics of lead absorption, distribution, deposition in bone and excretion. Following
discontinuation of exposure to lead, the excess body burden is only slowly mobilized from bone and other
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relatively stable body stores and excreted. Consequently, a high blood lead level may only represent recent
heavy exposure to lead without a significant total body excess and likewise a low blood lead level does not
exclude an elevated total body burden of lead.
Also due to its correlation with recent exposures, the blood lead level may vary considerably over short time
intervals.
To minimize laboratory error and erroneous results due to contamination, blood specimens must be carefully
collected after thorough cleaning of the skin with appropriate methods using lead-free blood containers and
analyzed by a reliable laboratory. Under the standard, samples must be analyzed in laboratories which are
approved by OSHA. Analysis is to be made using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, anodic stripping
voltammetry or any method which meets the accuracy requirements set forth by the standard.
The determination of lead in urine is generally considered a less reliable monitoring technique than analysis of
whole blood primarily due to individual variability in urinary excretion capacity as well as the technical difficulty
of obtaining accurate 24 hour urine collections. In addition, workers with renal insufficiency, whether due to
lead or some other cause, may have decreased lead clearance and consequently urine lead levels may
underestimate the true lead burden. Therefore, urine lead levels should not be used as a routine test.
The zinc protoporphyrin test, unlike the blood lead determination, measures an adverse metabolic effect of
lead and as such is a better indicator of lead toxicity than the level of blood lead itself. The level of ZPP reflects
lead absorption over the preceding 3 to 4 months, and therefore is a better indicator of lead body burden. The
ZPP requires more time than the blood lead to read significantly elevated levels; the return to normal after
discontinuing lead exposure is also slower. Furthermore, the ZPP test is simpler, faster, and less expensive to
perform and no contamination is possible. Many investigators believe it is the most reliable means of
monitoring chronic lead absorption.
Zinc protoporphyrin results from the inhibition of the enzyme ferrochelatase which catalyzes the insertion of an
iron molecule into the protoporphyrin molecule, which then becomes heme. If iron is not inserted into the
molecule then zinc, having a greater affinity for protoporphyrin, takes the place of the iron, forming ZPP.
An elevation in the level of circulating ZPP may occur at blood lead levels as low as 20-30 µg/dl in some
workers. Once the blood lead level has reached 40 µg/dl there is more marked rise in the ZPP value from its
normal range of less than 100 µg/dl100 ml. Increases in blood lead levels beyond 40 µg/100 g are associated
with exponential increases in ZPP.
Whereas blood lead levels fluctuate over short time spans, ZPP levels remain relatively stable. ZPP is
measured directly in red blood cells and is present for the cell's entire 120 day life-span. Therefore, the ZPP
level in blood reflects the average ZPP production over the previous 3-4 months and consequently the average
lead exposure during that time interval.
It is recommended that a hematocrit be determined whenever a confirmed ZPP of 50 µg/100 ml whole blood is
obtained to rule out a significant underlying anemia. If the ZPP is in excess of 100 µg/100 ml and not
associated with abnormal elevations in blood lead levels, the laboratory should be checked to be sure that
blood leads were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry anodic stripping voltammetry, or any
method which meets the accuracy requirements set forth by the standard by an OSHA approved laboratory

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which is experienced in lead level determinations. Repeat periodic blood lead studies should be obtained in all
individuals with elevated ZPP levels to be certain that an associated elevated blood lead level has not been
missed due to transient fluctuations in blood leads.
ZPP has a characteristic fluorescence spectrum with a peak at 594 nm which is detectable with a
hematofluorimeter. The hematofluorimeter is accurate and portable and can provide on-site, instantaneous
results for workers who can be frequently tested via a finger prick.
However, careful attention must be given to calibration and quality control procedures. Limited data on blood
lead-ZPP correlations and the ZPP levels which are associated with the adverse health effects discussed in
Section 2 are the major limitations of the test. Also it is difficult to correlate ZPP levels with environmental
exposure and there is some variation of response with age and sex. Nevertheless, the ZPP promises to be an
important diagnostic test for the early detection of lead toxicity and its value will increase as more data is
collected regarding its relationship to other manifestations of lead poisoning.
Levels of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) in the urine are also used as a measure of lead exposure. Increasing
concentrations of ALA are believed to result from the inhibition of the enzyme delta-aminolevulinic acid
dehydrase (ALA-D). Although the test is relatively easy to perform, inexpensive, and rapid, the disadvantages
include variability in results, the necessity to collect a complete 24 hour urine sample which has a specific
gravity greater than 1.010, and also the fact that ALA decomposes in the presence of light.
The pattern of porphyrin excretion in the urine can also be helpful in identifying lead intoxication. With lead
poisoning, the urine concentrations of coproporphyrins I and II, porphobilinogen and uroporphyrin I rise. The
most important increase, however, is that of coproporphyrin III; levels may exceed 5,000 µg/l in the urine in lead
poisoned individuals, but its correlation with blood lead levels and ZPP are not as good as those of ALA.
Increases in urinary porphyrins are not diagnostic of lead toxicity and may be seen in porphyria, some liver
diseases, and in patients with high reticulocyte counts.
Summary. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's interim standard for inorganic lead in the
construction industry places significant emphasis on the medical surveillance of all workers exposed to levels
of inorganic lead above 30 µg/m3 TWA. The physician has a fundamental role in this surveillance program, and
in the operation of the medical removal protection program.
Even with adequate worker education on the adverse health effects of lead and appropriate training in work
practices, personal hygiene and other control measures, the physician has a primary responsibility for
evaluating potential lead toxicity in the worker. It is only through a careful and detailed medical and work
history, a complete physical examination and appropriate laboratory testing that an accurate assessment can
be made. Many of the adverse health effects of lead toxicity are either irreversible or only partially reversible
and therefore early detection of disease is very important.
This document outlines the medical monitoring program as defined by the occupational safety and health
standard for inorganic lead. It reviews the adverse health effects of lead poisoning and describes the important
elements of the history and physical examinations as they relate to these adverse effects. Finally, the
appropriate laboratory testing for evaluating lead exposure and toxicity is presented.

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It is hoped that this review and discussion will give the physician a better understanding of the OSHA standard
with the ultimate goal of protecting the health and well-being of the worker exposed to lead under his or her
care.
[58 FR 26627, May 4, 1993, as amended at 58 FR 34218, June 24, 1993; 61 FR 5510, Feb. 13, 1996; 63 FR 1296, Jan. 8, 1998; 70 FR
1143, Jan. 5, 2005; 71 FR 16674, Apr. 3, 2006; 71 FR 50191, Aug. 24, 2006; 73 FR 75588, Dec. 12, 2008; 76 FR 33611, June 8, 2011;
76 FR 80741, Dec. 27, 2011; 77 FR 17890, Mar. 26, 2012; 85 FR 8735, Feb. 18, 2020; 87 FR 38986, June 30, 2022]

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