The past and future of occupational exposure limits

Details

• Personal Author:
  Borak J ; Brosseau LM ; Borak J ; Brosseau LM
• Description:
  The development of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) is thought to have begun with reports published in 1883 by Max Gruber, a German scientist who studied the effects of carbon monoxide at varying air concentrations by exposing both himself and laboratory animals. His conclusions reflected the relative imprecision of then available analytical methods: "The boundary of injurious action of carbon monoxide lies at a concentration in all probability of 500 parts per million, but certainly not less than 200 parts per million." K.B. Lehmann, beginning in 1886, and over a career spanning more than 50 years, described a database of exposure limits that were derived from controlled exposure studies in humans and animals. His work, which continues to be cited in the modern literature, represents the scientific origin of contemporary workplace exposure standards. In the U.S., the first compilation of exposure limits appeared in a technical paper published in 1921 by the Bureau of Mines, which described odor and irritation thresholds of 33 substances frequently encountered in workplaces and mines. That document, along with pioneering research in animal physiology and toxicology by scientists such as Flury and Lehmann, Sayers, Henderson and Haggard, and Bowditch, laid the groundwork for state agencies, public health services, and professional organizations such as the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) to develop and disseminate comprehensive lists of scientifically-based exposure standards. The first systematic collection of "modern" OELs was developed in 1946 by an ACGIH subcommittee (that eventually became the TLV Chemical Substances Committee), which had been directed to derive and maintain such a system of exposure limits. The ACGIH Committee on Industrial Hygiene Codes had been charged "to promote uniformity of thought and action with regard to adoption of rules and regulations for the control of industrial environmental conditions affecting health." That first set of ACGIH OELs relied mainly on data originally compiled in 1945 by Warren Cook, a legendary figure in early industrial hygiene, along with a smaller number of standards established by the Z-37 committee of the American Standards Association (now known as ANSI). Cook's list, which included 132 specific chemicals plus X-rays, was itself derived from exposure limits that had been earlier recommended by the American Standards Association, U.S. Public Health Service and six states (California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Utah). The 1946 ACGIH list consisted of a table of Maximal Allowable Concentrations presented without guidelines, explicit definitions, or technical documentation. In response to criticisms that the list lacked descriptions and explanations, a preface and documentation were added in 1953. In 1956, the term Threshold Limit Value (TLV) was adopted in lieu of the term Maximal Allowable Concentration. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Carbon Monoxide Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Carbon Monoxide Exposure Limits Maximum-permissible-concentrations Occupational-exposure Occupational Exposure Limits OELs Standards
• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Connecticut ; Florida ; Illinois ; Massachusetts ; New York ; Ohio ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division ; EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Volume:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047481
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2015 Nov; 12(Suppl 1):S1-S3
• Contact Point Address:
  Jonathan Borak, Yale School of Medicine, 234 Church Street (6th floor), New Haven, CT 06510
• Email:
  Jonathan.Borak@Yale.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Acetaldehyde (CAS RN 75-07-0) ; Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Arsenic trioxide (CAS RN 1327-53-3) ; Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8) ; Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Acetaldehyde (CAS RN 75-07-0) ; Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Arsenic trioxide (CAS RN 1327-53-3) ; Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8) ; Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Supplement:
  1
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:975897d5ae7ac5f718238306fce18c1e13a2a17bed4852ed386f678e5dca917820368a2fb072bfd88dae7869db731d3c8c2ae0dcd4f29246b1696bd9cca3550f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202537/cdc_202537_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 350.06 KB ]