Take-Home Contamination
Dust and chemicals from work can ride home on your clothes, boots, skin, hair, tools and truck. Children have been lead poisoned by a parent’s work clothes, and family members have developed asbestos disease from shaking out a worker’s coveralls.
- All workers
- Families
Photo: worker changing out of dusty coveralls into clean clothes at a jobsite change trailer before driving home
Contaminants that come home
| Contaminant | Common jobs | Risk to family |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | Painting and paint removal, bridge work, demolition, battery and scrap recycling, firing ranges | Children’s brain and nervous system damage. See Lead |
| Asbestos | Demolition, renovation, insulation, brake work | Mesothelioma and lung disease decades later. See Asbestos |
| Silica and other dusts | Concrete, masonry, stone cutting | Lung irritation; risk mostly to the worker, but keep it out of the home |
| Pesticides | Farm work, landscaping, pest control | Poisoning, especially for children |
| Other chemicals and germs | Beryllium, mercury, sewage, health care | Illness and allergies |
Habits that protect your family
- Change out of work clothes and boots before getting in your vehicle or going home
- Put work clothes in a sealed bag; don’t shake them out
- Wash work clothes separately from family laundry, and run an empty rinse cycle after
- Shower at work if available, or as soon as you get home, before hugging kids
- Wash hands and face before eating, drinking, smoking or touching your phone
- Leave work tools and lunch boxes out of the house, or clean them
- Keep your vehicle clean; use seat covers and vacuum with a HEPA vacuum
What employers must provide
- Several OSHA standards, such as lead, asbestos and cadmium, require protective clothing, change areas, and showers or washing facilities when exposures are above certain levels, and require employers to clean or launder contaminated clothing so it doesn’t go home.
- Contaminated clothing must be removed at work and handled in labeled, closed containers.
Get your kids tested. If you work with lead, ask your children’s doctor about a blood lead test. Lead poisoning often has no obvious symptoms in children.
Standards & references
- NIOSH: Take-home exposures
- 29 CFR 1926.62: Lead in construction (hygiene facilities and protective clothing)
- See also: Asbestos for Homeowners · Access to Records
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