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S9800-01-34-ATTACHMENT D T8 CCR§1532.1 Inorganic Lead-Appendix A
<br /> adversely affects numerous body systems,and causes forms of health impairment and disease
<br /> which arise after periods of exposure as short as days or as long as several years.
<br /> ` 2. Long-term(chronic)overexposure.Chronic overexposure to lead may result in severe damage to
<br /> your blood-forming,nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. Some common symptoms of
<br /> chronic overexposure include loss of appetite,metallic taste in the mouth,anxiety, constipation,
<br /> 6. nausea,pallor,excessive tiredness,weakness,insomnia,headache,nervous irritability,muscle
<br /> and joint pain or soreness, fine tremors,numbness,dizziness,hyperactivity and colic. In lead
<br /> colic there may be severe abdominal pain.Damage to the central nervous system in general and
<br /> the brain(encephalopathy)in particular is one of the most severe forms of lead poisoning. The
<br /> most severe,often fatal,form of encephalopathy may be preceded by vomiting,a feeling of
<br /> dullness progressing to drowsiness and stupor,poor memory,restlessness,irritability,tremor,
<br /> and convulsions. It may arise suddenly with the onset of seizures,followed by coma,and death.
<br /> ` There is a tendency for muscular weakness to develop at the same time. This weakness may
<br /> progress to paralysis often observed as a characteristic"wrist drop" or"foot drop"and is a
<br /> manifestation of a disease to the nervous system called peripheral neuropathy.Chronic
<br /> overexposure to lead also results in kidney disease with few,if any,symptoms appearing until
<br /> extensive and most likely permanent kidney damage has occurred. Routine laboratory tests reveal
<br /> the presence of this kidney disease only after about two-thirds of kidney function is lost. When
<br /> overt symptoms of urinary dysfunction arise, it is often too late to correct or prevent worsening
<br /> conditions,and progression to kidney dialysis or death is possible. Chronic overexposure to lead
<br /> impairs the reproductive systems of both men and women. Overexposure to lead may result in
<br /> decreased sex drive, impotence and sterility in men. Lead can alter the structure of sperm cells
<br /> ` raising the risk of birth defects.There is evidence of miscarriage and stillbirth in women whose
<br /> husbands were exposed to lead or who were exposed to lead themselves.Lead exposure also may
<br /> result in decreased fertility,and abnormal menstrual cycles in women. The course of pregnancy
<br /> may be adversely affected by exposure to lead since lead crosses the placental barrier and poses
<br /> risks to developing fetuses. Children bom of parents either one of whom were exposed to excess
<br /> lead levels are more likely to have birth defects,mental retardation,behavioral disorders or die
<br /> during the first year of childhood.Overexposure to lead also disrupts the blood-forming system
<br /> resulting in decreased hemoglobin(the substance in the blood that carries oxygen to the cells)
<br /> and ultimately anemia.Anemia is characterized by weakness,pallor and fatigability as a result of
<br /> ` decreased oxygen carrying capacity in the blood.
<br /> 3. Exposure to lead throughout a working lifetime requires that a worker's blood lead level(BLL,
<br /> also expressed as PbB)be maintained at or below forty micrograms per deciliter of whole blood
<br /> (40 pg/dl).The blood lead levels of workers(both male and female workers)who intend to have
<br /> children should be maintained below 30 pg/dl to minimize adverse reproductive health effects to
<br /> the parents and to the developing fetus.The measurement of your blood lead level (BLL) is the
<br /> most useful indicator of the amount of lead being absorbed by your body. Blood lead levels are
<br /> ` most often reported in units of milligrams(mg)or micrograms(ug)of lead(I mg=1000 mg)per
<br /> 100 grams(100g), 100 milliliters(100 ml)or deciliter(dl)of blood.These three units are
<br /> essentially the same. Sometime BUS are expressed in the form of mg%or mg%. This is a
<br /> �- shorthand notation for 100g, 100 ml,or dl.(Reference to BLL measurements in this standard are
<br /> expressed in the form ofµg/dl.)
<br /> BLL measurements show the amount of lead circulating in your blood stream,but do not give
<br /> any information about the amount of lead stored in your various tissues. BLL measurements
<br /> merely show current absorption of lead,not the effect that lead is having on your body or the
<br /> effects that past lead exposure may have already caused.Past research into lead-related diseases,
<br /> �. however,has focused heavily on associations between BUS and various diseases.As a result,
<br /> your BLL is an important indicator of the likelihood that you will gradually acquire a lead-
<br /> related health impairment or disease.
<br /> Linden UST SI and Removal,Task Order No.34 Caltrans Contract 06A1895,EFIS 30-1300-0181-0
<br /> Geocon Project No.59800-01-34 Page D-2 of 3 September 2014
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