Delay noted in notifying lab workers about possible exposure
last updated: February 02, 2008 03:00:43 PM
LIVERMORE, Calif. —
Dozens of contract workers were not informed that they may have inhaled particles of a metal that can cause an incurable lung disease until five months after routine tests at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory uncovered the substance, a lab spokeswoman confirmed.
The lab, which develops and tests nuclear weapons for the federal government, is arranging to have the workers from Livermore-based GSE Construction tested for sensitivity to beryllium, an earth metal used in the defense and aerospace industries. A low percentage of those who develop beryllium sensitivity go onto develop byryllium disease, a potentially fatal lung disease.
"GSE and the workers are very concerned," company spokesman Kevin Goodwin said.
Traces of the element turned up a year ago in the machine shop where the workers had completed a four-year earthquake safety project, but their company was not notified about the possible exposure until July, when a second round of tests in July showed unacceptable levels of beryllium in the building, according to lab spokeswoman Susan Houghton.
"We absolutely could have and should have informed the employees about this sooner," said lab spokeswoman Susan Houghton.
The seismic safety upgrades were completed two months before the first tests came back positive for byryllium and lab employees continued working in the machine shop until September, two months after the second set were completed.
The workers were alerted and given exposure questionnaires to answer on Friday. The lab's new manager, Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC, is investigating why the building remained open and why workers weren't notified sooner, Houghton said.
"We definitely know that continued exposure is a risk factor for progression from sensitivity to the disease," said UC San Francisco pulmonary physician John Balmes, who focuses on occupational and environmental lung disease. "We just can't quantitate the risk."
Only about 80 of the thousands of samples collected from the machine shop had elevated beryllium levels and most of those barely exceeded counts considered acceptable by the government, said the lab's medical director, Jim Seward.
"The key here is that the likelihood of a significant exposure to these contract workers is fairly low," Seward said.
Information from: Contra Costa Times
5 comments:
Just like the CDC who took 2 years to say the bechtel-built mobile homes for Katrina's victims were toxic!
where does government responsibility begin?
I wonder if the first set of contract employees that were let go were these people that got exposed and therefore will never know about their exposure unless they find this article that was buried very deep and out of site in the local paper. Hope the word gets out to these people and they get help quick if it's not to late already.
This explains why the 321 NC shop was closed for a few weeks and all of their people were displaced back to the 321 mainbay.
Bechtel didn't build the mobile homes - they came from manufacturers all over the country. Formaldehyde issues in manufactured homes has been a known problem for years, inadequately addressed by health standards. Warning notices have been included in them for years. The Katrina issues helped to bring attention to the issue.
All affected contractor employees have been individually notified (albeit later than should have been) and were here for specific tasks - not part of recent reductions.
one worker has been diagnosed with berylliosis (don't if it is acute or chronic). I am astounded the lab has decided to hide that fact.
Not only that but the lab has ov 15 of it's own empolyes that are afected by this.
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