Prevention of lead poisoning in construction workers: A new public health approach

Background. In 1990, Yale University, the Connecticut Departments of Health Services and of Transportation, the Connecticut Construction Industries Association, and the state's construction trade unions created the Connecticut Road Industry Surveillance Project (CRISP). Methods, Data from 90 bridge projects from 1991 to 1995 and approximately 2,000 workers were evaluated The distribution of peak lead concentrations in the blood for CRISP workers classified into five groups were compared to that from workers outside of Connecticut Results. This demonstration project was instrumental in lowering bridge worker blood lead levels. After 1992, only the painting contract employees experienced peak blood lead levels with less than or equal to2% exceeding 50 mug/dl. Compared to similar workers in other states, Connecticut workers had significantly lower peak blood lead levels. Conclusions. Two thousand workers and over 120 contractors benefited directly from CRISP. Two key features of the CRISP model differed from the 1993 OSHA standard: a contract-specified lead health protection program and a centralized system of medical monitoring. These differences may account for the improved protection observed between the CRISP and non-Connecticut cohorts. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.