POTENTIAL HEALTH-HAZARDS FROM LEAD SHIELDING

Uncoated metallic lead is widely used as radiation shielding in resear ch and development, nuclear medicine and radiology,and various manufac turing processes. The common use of lead shielding, however, may prese nt an insidious health hazard due to lead dust. Field and laboratory m easurements were collected to evaluate the distribution and removal of lead from radiation shielding material as well as to measure airborne exposures during large shielding emplacement projects. The data indic ate that lead is readily dispersed from visibly oxidized as well as fr eshly-cleaned shielding, but that a single coating of polyurethane can reduce lead removal by nearly three orders of magnitude. Although 8-h our time-weighted average exposures for workers constructing lead shie lding structures were nearly all below the Occupational Safety and Hea lth Administration's action level of 30 mu g/m(3) (due to short work p eriods), the distribution of airborne lead concentrations during this kind of work demonstrates a potential for overexposure.