Rank: Forum user 
|
Hello all, I have had a client ask about a potential hazard regarding mercury found in paint. I have looked on the HSE and thorugh the internet and cant seem to find an awful lot. Does anyone have any info on this?
We will need to strip the paint of the walls so standard controls will be in place for working with paints as per the COSHH assessment. Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Super forum user
|
The mercury is probably in the form of Phenylmercury Acetate(PMA) which was used as a antifungal additive to paint. If you are going to be removing it, you need to look at your COSHH assessment and do one for this job. Ideally you need to find out how much mercury the paint contains-an SDS for the paint would be a useful start. What you need think about is how you are removing it. Using a heat gun for example is probably not a good idea. You will need to look at how you will be disposing of the paint once it has been scrapped off. Good hygiene goes with out saying.
|
 4 users thanked A Kurdziel for this useful post.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Super forum user
|
AS AK says down to a good risk assessment and Safe System or work - may be worth getting an occupational hygienist involved to do some testing for you.
I was speaking with an HSE inspector about 5 years ago and they were telling me they were in the process of carrying out the 1st mercury prosection in a long wile after staff at a recycling plant had fallen ill. Turned out to be mercury in some of the energy saving light bulbs. Mercury exposure is rare these days but it can happen.
|
2 users thanked HSSnail for this useful post.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Super forum user
|
not sure of your process but since it may be vapourising or otherwise disturbing some or part of it at close contact the potential for employee exposure is high...the paint has been shown in some studies to show increased exposure just from being there so if you guys are scrapping or burning it off then you may have a problem...so RPE is a given, this product will break down in the body to inorganic mercury and deposit on the kidneys and brain...so biological monitoring may be required withjn 24 hours of exposure...there are no set air monitoring values for methymercury as it is though to be no higher than the values found in everyday life...but that doesn't take account of how you are removing the paint..
|
2 users thanked stevedm for this useful post.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Super forum user
|
Aaron - not entirely surprised that you didn't find much on the HSE website. HSE like most OSH professionals in the UK are much hotter on safety issues than the OH risks. Some years ago, there was a major refurbishment of Glasgow Central Station and HSE took a keen interest in lead exposure during paint removal from steelwork from the start. Despite the attention, and thence an assumption that the project should have been controlled to a much better standard than the norm, within weeks of the start two workers had to be suspended from work involving exposure to lead. So, I looked on the HSE website to see how many demolition and scrap yard workers were under medical surveillance to lead in the UK. Total was less than 500 - so very few considering how many people do such work. This would have been about 20 years after a large study in California concluded that well over half of their demolition workers had significantly high lead in blood levels.
The UK may be quite good in international comparisons of accident stats, but not so clever on the occupational health.
|
1 user thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Forum user
|
As always, thank you for the feedback. It's much appreciated! I agree with you Peter, there seems to be a lack of evidence surrounding OH on there. Getting hold of the paint SDS may be particulary hard as the building is over 40 years old and hasnt been occupied since the 90's.
I think I will take a similar approach to how we deal with lead paint. The paint itself should only be scraped off and not with a heat gun. Thank you AK for what form it may be in.
Cheers
|
1 user thanked Aaron L for this useful post.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Super forum user
|
Aaron - AK is usually good with the chemistry QQ on the Forums! The evidence probably IS there, but you might have to look beyond the UK - so US or Europe especially the former Soviet bloc. When I was part of a team auditing a steelworks in Ukraine, the Medical Director enlightened me on some OH issues that had not been on the radar when I was dealing with the UK steel industry. As example a quick google took me to Mercury Exposure from Interior Latex Paint | NEJM Not often that I praise the Americans when it comes to matters of occupational health and safety, but they DO have a long history of work for industrial hygienists. P Edited by user 26 January 2022 16:34:26(UTC)
| Reason: Touch typing failure - I assume correct finger, wrong key
|
1 user thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.