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10/05/00
Exposing family members to toxins
http://usatoday.com/money/bighits/toxin3.htm

Some of the cases in which employees are believed to have transported workplace hazards off the job site or in which family members have been exposed to workplace toxins in the home.

Radioactive danger

In 1997, an employee at a Missouri medical company was exposed to radioactive material because of a faulty glove, but the contamination wasn't discovered until he returned to work the next day. Contamination was found in his house on items in the bathroom and kitchen and also in three places inside his vehicle.

Children poisoned by lead

Employees who handled and sheared lead-sheathed telephone communication cable at a California salvage operation weren't provided with showers and wore work clothes home. Investigators found that five of the employees each had a child, ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years, with elevated lead levels in his or her blood.

Suspected carcinogen

Workers at a Michigan manufacturing plant worked with a suspected carcinogen. Researchers in the 1980s found the chemical in some employees' homes, including in dryer lint and vacuum cleaner dust. Family members in four households also had measurable levels of the toxin in their urine.

Mercury falls like rain

In 1988, workers at a Tennessee chemical plant who carried out a scheduled maintenance operation were exposed to mercury that condensed on the ceiling and fell back to the floor like rain. Contamination was found in some homes, and decontamination was done in 25 residences.

Boy has seizures

A 3-year-old boy was in good health until he was hospitalized for seizures. He was treated and released from intensive care in 24 hours. The mother worked at an explosives plant, where toxins from the job regularly clung to the work boots she wore home.

Radiation invades homes

When radiation contamination occurred in the 1980s at an Ohio oil-and-gas well logging company, it was spread off-site. The radiation was in a form that resembled talcum powder, which allowed it to migrate easily. Efforts to clean up the spill wound up contaminating more workers. In addition to the company, 14 homes and three businesses were contaminated.

Lead hospitalizes girl

A 2-year-old girl in California suffered from lead poisoning in 1997. The lead was tracked into the girl's mobile home from her grandfather's work at an adjacent radiator repair shop. The girl was hospitalized, and blood lead levels were reduced.

Lead winds up in cars

Researchers tested children of workers at an Alabama battery reclamation business. Twelve had elevated levels of lead in their blood, and samples taken from employees' cars found some contaminated with lead dust, especially on drivers' seats, floors and dashes.

Boys' condition linked to animal-growth promoter

Five boys of workers and former employees at an Indianapolis chemical plant in the 1980s developed gynecomastia, or enlarged breasts. Their condition was linked to exposure to an animal-growth promoter that was used where their parents worked. Follow-up studies found that a sample of work clothing routinely laundered at home was contaminated with the growth stimulant.

Jaundice strikes baby

A 6-week-old girl developed jaundice and liver enlargement after the baby's mother visited the dry-cleaning establishment where her husband worked. Tests found that the mother's breast milk contained a dry cleaning chemical shown to cause liver tumors in mice and kidney tumors in male rats.

Cancer afflicts family

Family members of a New England insulation worker developed cancer linked to asbestos exposure from his job. Work clothes and cotton cloth bags used to hold asbestos insulation were brought home. The bags were used for diapers. The oldest child died at age 32 of mesothelioma, cancer of the lining of the chest or abdomen that often is linked to asbestos. The mother died of the same cancer at 49. It also was diagnosed in a 43-year-old uncle who lived in the contaminated home as a teen. The father died of asbestosis and cirrhosis at age 53.

Sources: Nuclear Regulatory Commission report; California Department of Health Services; 1999 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) report; 1990 Mercury Exposure Study from ATSDR; 1993 American Journal of Industrial Medicine; September 1994 Nuclear Regulatory Commission report; 1997 California Environmental Health Association report; American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) report; September 1995 NIOSH Report to Congress on Workers' Home Contamination Study; American Journal of Industrial Medicine and NIOSH.