DETROIT, MI – Employees of Michigan’s largest electric utility were found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood, sparking an investigation and fines from state workplace safety officials.
The DTE Energy workers at a Detroit service center may have been exposed while soldering with lead and when they entered underground manholes to splice lead-lined electrical cable, according to the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration, MIOSHA.
While a particular risk for children, lead is also toxic for adults, damaging kidney function, increasing blood pressure and leading to reproductive problems, among other harms…