Quantitative risk assessment as the basis for a proposed NIOSH recommended exposure limit for hexavalent chromium compounds

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ashley, Kevin E. ; MacMahon, Kathleen ; Park R ; Rice F
• Description:
  To update the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommendations for protecting workers with occupational exposure to Cr(VI) compounds, all aspects of occupational exposure to and control of hexavalent chromium compounds (Cr(VI); e.g., chromic acid, CAS No. 1333-82-0; sodium dichromate, CAS No. 7789-12-0) were evaluated including epidemiology, toxicology, risk assessment, analytical methods, and industrial hygiene practices. Derivation of a proposed Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) was one component of the updated risk management recommendations. The NIOSH proposed REL was derived based on the results of a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) of lung cancer in chromate production workers. The NIOSH REL was previously based on the quantitative limitation of the 1975 analytical method; at that time NIOSH recommended that occupational carcinogens be controlled to the lowest feasible concentration. Data from a cohort of Baltimore chromate production workers were selected for analysis due to the availability of extensive exposure assessment data, information about smoking histories, strong statistical power, and relative lack of confounding exposures. Excess lifetime risk at the REL of 1 microg Cr(VI)/m3 was estimated as 6 (95% confidence limits=3-12) lung cancer deaths per 1000 workers. Based on these results, NIOSH proposed a REL of 0.2 microg Cr(VI)/m3 8-hour time-weighted average exposure during a 40-hour workweek. The proposed REL has an estimated working lifetime (45 years) excess risk of lung cancer mortality of approximately one in 1000. NIOSH, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and international consensus standard analytical methods can accurately quantify workplace exposures at the proposed REL. Recommending the control of occupational Cr(VI) exposures to below the proposed REL is intended to reduce the incidence of work-related lung cancer. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Acids Carcinogens Chromates Chromium Environmental Monitoring Epidemiology Longevity Lung Lung Diseases Mortality Neoplasms Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Safety Toxicology

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• Keywords:
  Analytical-methods Cancer Chromium-compounds Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-limits Hexavalent-chromium-compounds Industrial-hygiene Lifespan Lung-cancer Mortality-data Permissible-concentration-limits Quantitative-analysis Risk-analysis

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• ISSN:
  1096-6080
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  337-338
• Volume:
  132
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042433
• Citation:
  Toxicologist 2013 Mar; 132(1):337-338
• CAS Registry Number:
  Chromic trioxide (CAS RN 1333-82-0) ; Chromium(6+) (CAS RN 18540-29-9) ; Sodium dichromate dihydrate (CAS RN 7789-12-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The Toxicologist. Society of Toxicology 52nd Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, March 10-14, 2013, San Antonio, Texas
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:148db808f3d04fbd066f872b29051d1dbe265fd7c029c3c170f895cb7068b6a73f65fe48c0f492e634d2e67f083c5622d471657d50a6463d195be1216fd819b5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194658/cdc_194658_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 585.09 KB ]