Occupational and take-home lead poisoning associated with restoring chemically stripped furniture--California, 1998.

The Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (OLPPP) of the California Department of Health Services and a county health department investigated cases of lead poisoning in six furniture workers and their families in 1998. The investigation, initiated after a blood test of a worker's child revealed an elevated blood lead level (BLL), found that lead remaining in previously painted or coated stripped wood was carried from the workplace on clothes and shoes and was the source of the child's lead exposure and subsequent poisoning. Employers in industries in which workers restore or build using stripped wood should assess lead exposure and, when necessary, should establish a comprehensive lead safety program.