Take-Home Toxins in the Workplace
Manufacturing plants and other industrial workplaces can be dangerous places to work. But most industrial workers probably think they leave those dangers behind once they exit for the day. They may be surprised to learn that they can carry hazardous substances home from work on their clothes, bodies, tools and other items – unknowingly exposing their families to these substances, which may cause serious health effects.In fact, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the U.S., studied the issue of “take-home toxins” and found respiratory problems, neurological disorders, fatal poisonings and other health effects among workers’ families in 36 states. Contaminants causing health effects among workers’ families ranged from asbestos and beryllium to lead, mercury, arsenic and more.
NIOSH notes that soft materials (i.e., cloth) are the hardest to clean and that lead, asbestos, pesticides and beryllium are especially difficult to remove – even after laundering.
Toxic Towels
In a separate study on workplace toxins, researchers evaluated contaminants found on a common item in many industrial workplaces: the trusty old shop towel. Shop towels are used countless times every day by factory workers, tradespeople and mechanics to wipe away sweat and grime from dirty hands or a sweaty brow, as well as to wipe up messes throughout the workplace.The issue? Even when “freshly laundered,” all of the towels studied (from 23 different manufacturing and industrial facilities across 14 states) contained oil and grease, and many contained elevated levels of heavy metals such as lead. In fact, the average amount of lead found in the tested laundered shop towels exceeded CalEPA’s Prop 65 levels for reproductive effects by 26 times, according to the study published by the International Nonwovens Journal.
The study showed how elevated levels of heavy metals on shop towels can get onto hands and then inadvertently into the mouth, where they might be ingested. These “toxic” shop towels can also come into contact with the lips when towels are used to wipe the face.
Some industry watchers – responding to the study – voiced concern that toxic elements on the towels could be transferred to workers’ homes and families if towels were taken home (a not uncommon scenario), or if the toxic elements were otherwise transferred from the worker’s skin, clothing or tools.
A California state assemblyman even went so far as to introduce a bill to require those selling reusable cloth shop towels to affix a warning notice to the towels stating that they may have been in contact with hazardous materials.
Eye on the Environment
In addition to being a potential health and safety issue for workers, reusable laundered shop towels are also responsible for 30 percent more landfilled solid waste than their disposable counterparts. Disposable wipers, on the other hand, contribute only one-tenth of one percent of the nation’s landfilled waste.In addition, the laundering of reusable shop towels is responsible for as much as 95 percent of organic, inorganic and metal contaminants in the wastewater of industrial laundries. And it is estimated that 80 percent of the 13 million pounds of hazardous contamination industrial laundries discharge into municipal sewer systems every year comes from the wastewater of laundered shop towels.
Depending on the size of the facility, industrial plants may use up to 100,000 shop towels or disposable wipers a year. Given the potential health/safety and environmental effects of laundered shop towels, shouldn’t businesses consider replacing laundered shop towels with alternative wiping products?
