Mississauga, Canada, December 13
th, 2017
Recently, CBC News in Canada published a report about potential lead exposure risks to employees of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) working out of one of the agency’s buildings in Winnipeg. The article shares the lead poisoning concerns of a civilian RCMP employee who had to access a dusty file room for over 15 years that was located next to an indoor firing range. According to the article, the indoor range has now been closed for a planned upgrade “to meet all current safety standards.”
When bullets made of lead are touched or fired they can expose people to lead particulates. These particulates can be inhaled before they settle as dust. Whenever these dusts are disturbed or touched, they can once again cause exposure concerns.
These dusts are a serious issue at indoor shooting ranges, especially those that don’t have adequate ventilation and cleaning procedures. Exposure to these dusts can be a threat to workers and users of indoor ranges as these dusts can collect on people clothes, skin and hair and be brought home to their families.
“When most people think about lead exposure hazards they think of old peeling paint, but shooting ranges, and especially indoor facilities without the proper ventilation, filtration and cleaning protocols, could be causing serious exposure concerns for tens of thousands of people in Canada and the United States,” said Joe Frasca, Senior Vice President of Marketing at EMSL Analytical, Inc. “To help identify lead hazards of all types, EMSL provides testing services, sampling supplies and easy-to-use test kits. Our network of laboratories has over 40 locations across North America to quickly and efficiently provide lead and other indoor environmental quality and hazardous material testing services.”
EMSL has also sponsored an educational video about lead exposure risks at shooting ranges that can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/BOb7ZHqFfXI.
To learn more about this or other occupational, environmental, air quality, health and safety testing services, please visit www.EMSL.com, call (800) 220-3675 or email info@EMSL.com. To view the complete line of indoor environmental test kits, visit www.EMSLTestKits.com.
About EMSL Canada, Inc.
EMSL Canada is an internationally recognized provider of environmental, indoor air quality and materials testing services and products to professionals and the general public. The company has an extensive list of accreditations from leading organizations as well as state and federal regulating bodies.