Telecom companies left a network of lead-clad cables, endangering communities; cable workers first to be exposed

Graphic by Mark Nowlin, Seattle Times, from Public Health of Seattle-King County, CDC, NIH

"Get the lead out" is a solid health warning. "Tens of thousands of workers at American Telephone & Telegraph and its successor companies were exposed to lead on the job over many years. Current and former workers say they often felt left in the dark about their exposure and how to stay safe," report Shalini Ramachandran, Coulter Jones, Susan Pulliam and Thomas Gryta of The Wall Street Journal. "Some of the workers have neurological disorders, kidney ailments, gastrointestinal issues and cardiovascular problems, illnesses that can be linked to lead exposure. There's no way to determine what triggered specific ailments. Doctors say no amount of lead is safe."

Lead's presence in cables, glass or industrial supplies harms more than the handler. "The lead, which those workers handled for decades, is a potential health risk for communities across the U.S. The cables sheathed in the toxic metal are the subject of a Wall Street Journal investigation that has detailed how AT&T, Verizon and other telecom giants left behind a sprawling network of cables, many of which are leaching lead into the environment. Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of lead exposure," the Journal reports. "AT&T dismissed 'anecdotal, non-evidence-based linkages to individuals' health symptoms,' saying those symptoms' could be associated with a vast number of potential causes.' Verizon said it has 'a robust safety and health program to provide training, materials and resources and that workers can get lead testing at any time at no cost."

Tommy Steed, who is now 74 years old, provided the Journal with an object example. He "removed lead underground cables. . . said he often vomited after eating breakfast. He said he never got his blood test results from Nynex, now part of Verizon, despite repeated requests. The state health department later provided them, showing high levels of lead: 'Steed's blood-lead level was 43 micrograms per deciliter in May 1988 and 39 micrograms two months later, according to New York health department records. The average level for the U.S. population at the time was 2.8 micrograms per deciliter, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.'. . . Nynex' didn't try to get me any remedial help,' said Steed, now chairman of the Association of BellTel Retirees, which advocates for former workers."

"A study conducted in the 1970s at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital of 90 Bell System cable splicers showed 'a high lead content in their blood, with 10 'in danger of suffering medical and/or physical deterioration if they continue on their jobs,' according to letters among union officials. A small study last year of lead in Verizon workers' bones showed that exposures continued," the Journal reports. "AT&T and Verizon declined to comment on the studies."