The lead concentration in the yellow paint was also high
(2.824 mg/m3). This is because most of the hexavalent chromium in
the paint exists as lead chromate (PbCrO4). Although this particular
worker did not exhibit symptoms of lead poisoning, a medical examination
for lead poisoning should be performed for workers
involved in similar jobs [13]. As a part of researching lung cancer
cases, our laboratory has performed a mask fit test for workers who
mixed pigments and talc for paint manufacturing in the past 20
years. The overall fit factor was 15 with a half-face Grade 2 (equivalent
to European Nations P2) mask and 25 with a half-face Grade 1
(equivalent to European Nations P1) mask; these values were far
lower than the pass value of 100. Themasks currently available in the
domesticmarket are all of the same size rather than different sizes to
fit different workers, and workers are not trained to wear the masks
correctly. Furthermore, the patient would not have benefited from
the effects of wearing a mask for this particular case, as he wore a
cottonmask for the first 10 years instead of a dust mask. In addition,
as he was working in a temporary plywood booth for the first several
years, and not in the current paint-job booth, the concentrations
would have been higher than the values reported in this survey