Studio Tour Is a Breath of Fresh Air to Health Group

There was a different kind of tour at Universal Studios on Saturday.

About 120 people gawked at a 20-foot fiberglass mold that gave birth to the great white shark in “Jaws.” They saw a lineup of 1950s-vintage cars being painted for a police drama. But they were not there for the fun of it.

They were occupational health specialists, physicians and union representatives from around Southern California, and had converged on the studio’s new $30-million paint shop to learn about the state of the art in protecting workers from airborne hazards.

Effects of Paints, Solvents

The tour capped an all-day conference held by the American Lung Assn. at the Sheraton Universal Hotel to provide an update on the health effects of paints and solvents. The seminar was the fourth in a series that also has covered respiratory hazards of welding and asbestos, said Linda Delp, a spokeswoman for the lung association.

Nearly 300,000 workers in Los Angeles County--in transportation, furniture and metal-fabricating industries--are regularly exposed to airborne paints and solvents, according to the association.

Industries from the largest aerospace firms to the smallest auto-body shop have often neglected to provide protective equipment, ventilation and training for their workers, Delp said. As a result, the county recently had the state’s highest reported number of incidents of work-related respiratory illness, she said. And it is assumed that many more cases go unreported.

“There are still some nightmare situations out there,” said Dr. Sherry Baron, a UCLA specialist in worker health who spoke at the conference.

At the same time, Cal-OSHA, the state occupational health agency that polices such businesses, is threatened with extinction, Delp said.

Lung association officials are appalled that Gov. George Deukmejian’s Administration recently proposed trimming $8 million from the state budget by laying off at least 350 Cal-OSHA inspectors and other personnel, giving responsibility for workplace safety to federal officials, Delp said.

At the seminar, the dangers of particular solvents and paints were discussed. Among the worst culprits are polyurethane finishes, which, because of their durability, are often used on aircraft, trucks and buses.

Work-Related Asthma

Isocyanate, a major component of such paints, is estimated to cause work-related asthma in up to 20% of regularly exposed workers, according to the association.

Oil-based paints contain solvents and pigments--for instance, cadmium or lead--which can not only affect the lungs, but also skin, nervous system, liver, heart and reproductive system.

In a broad bunker-like building at the east end of the studio lot, the seminar participants were led through huge carpentry and paint shops that fabricate the myriad props needed for films and television productions.

Dust-collecting vents hovered over every machine to collect contaminants, which are filtered and then dumped into a container for proper disposal.

Booths for spray-painting and the application of lacquer had wall-size waterfalls that catch airborne particles, which collect in underground tanks for later disposal.

1,500 Different Finishes

A paint-mixing room, where the 1,500 different finishes used at the studio are kept, has a ventilation system that replaces all the room’s air 15 times an hour, said Thurman Garrison, assistant safety manager for MCA, which owns the studios, who was one of several tour guides.

Garrison said masks with respirators are helpful only if they are used. “It takes daily monitoring to be sure that workers use them,” he said.

“This sure beats the average $69 auto-body shop,” said Dr. Jon Rosenberg, a public health medical officer for the state Department of Industrial Relations who had earlier addressed the conferees.