Question

1.  Which of the OSHA, ACGIH and NIOSH exposure limits are related to the concept of “body burden”?

Explain.  Your explanation should include, but not be limited to, definitions of body burden and the exposure limits you select.

Answer 1

OSHA recognizes that many of its permissible exposure limits are outdated and inadequate for ensuring protection of worker health.OSHA recommends that employers consider using the alternative occupational exposure limits because the Agency believes that exposures above some of these alternative occupational exposure limits may be hazardous to workers

Exposure limits : -

Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) - that are enforced in workplaces under its jurisdiction, Its requirements for risk and feasibility that are no less protective than the OSH Act.

Recommended Exposure Limits (RELs) - recommendations established according to the legislative mandate for NIOSH to recommend standards to OSHA.

To provide employers, workers, and other interested parties with a list of alternate occupational exposure limits that may serve to better protect workers,OSHA has annotated the existing Z-Tables with other selected occupational exposure limits.

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) is a private not-for-profit, nongovernmental corporation whose members are industrial hygienists or other occupational health and safety professionals dedicated to promoting health and safety within the workplace.

Biological monitoring can assist the occupational health professional to determine absorption via the skin or gastrointestinal system, in addition to that by inhalation, assess body burden, reconstruct past exposure, detect nonoccupational exposures among workers, test the efficacy of personal protective equipment and engineering controls, and monitor work practices.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

RELs are intended to be protective over a 45-year working lifetime.

NIOSH provides TWA concentrations that should not be exceeded over an 8 or 10-hour work shift, during a 40-hour workweek

Some chemicals have ceiling values which are concentrations that should not be exceeded at any time

So considering all the above permissible exposure limits are set by OSHA to protect workers against the adverse effects of exposure to chemical substances. In the world of gas detection, PELs limit the amount or concentration of a substance in the air and generally are based on an 8-hour time-weighted average exposure.