Exposure Limits and PPE

1. Where do I find occupational exposure limits ?
   • Table with OSHA and ACGIH values: https://www.osha.gov/dsg/annotated-pels/tablez-1.html
   • Some background on OSHA and ACGIH values:
     • US occupational exposure limits: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1000 TABLE Z-1 LIMITS FOR AIR CONTAMINANTS
       • Includes PEL and C and also skin. Read the footnotes at the end of the table. The units are in either ppm or mg/m3
       • Also refer to Tables Z-2 and Z-3
       • Note: OSHA Annotated Table Z-1 has been imported into SDScribe™
     • NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limts (REL) http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/
     • ACGIH “Threshold Limit Values (TLVs®) and Biological Exposure Indices (BEIs®)”
       • These are ACGIH recommendations, not legally-binding standards. These data are available for purchase from ACGIH.
       • They include TWA, STEL, BEI
       • https://www.acgih.org/Products/tlvintro.htm Page 11 of 16 version 4/23/15
   • ACGIH “Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEELs) ®
     • Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are developed for protection of healthy workers; they are not intended for the general public, which includes sensitive populations such as infants, the elderly, or the infirm. OELs are based on repeated daily exposures over a working lifetime. They are normally averaged over an 8-hour workday and serve to protect against acute and chronic health effects.
     • In 2013 the development of Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEELs) was transferred from AIHA to the Occupational Alliance for Risk Science (OARS) which is managed by Toxicology for Risk Assessment (TERA). AIHA will continue to post WEEL values on our website as they are updated by OARS. WEEL values are also posted to the TERA OARS website.

2. How are Exposure Limits entered into SDScribe™ ?

• These are entered into the Exposure Level table of Substance record (see image below on left). We recommend having these entered into the table before you actually add the substance component. When you enter a component which has exposure levels into the component table of the SDS, the program will ask you if you want to import these into the exposure table of the SDS (see image below on right)

3. (OSHA LOA 2013). Section 8 of the SDS requires the SDS preparer to include the applicable OSHA permissible exposure limits (PELs) and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGM) Threshold Limit Values (TLVs®). Must the PELs and TLVs® be included regardless of the concentration of the constituent or ingredient? Are they required if the ingredient does not contribute to the hazard classification? If the material has a TLV® and must be listed in Section 8, does it also have to be listed in Section 3

• Under Section 8 of Appendix D to the HCS 2012, subheading (a), the manufacturer must list the OSHA PEL, ACGIH TLV®, and any other exposure limit used or recommended by the chemical manufacturer, importer, or employer preparing the safety data sheet, where available. The requirement to include PELs and TLVs® in Section 8 of the SDS applies to any constituent or ingredient (including additives and impurities) that is present in the mixture or - substance above its cut-off value, or if it is below the cut-off value but still contributes to the hazard classification of the material. Please see the answer to question 8 for more details about contributing to the classification of the material. If a constituent is not present in the mixture or substance above its cut-off value, and does not contribute to the hazard classification of the substance or mixture, the PEL and TLV® associated with the ingredient need not be listed on the SDS. The lists of constituents in Sections 3 and 8 must be the same. If the constituent does not have a TLV® or PEL, its recommended exposure limit must be listed as "not applicable (N/A)" or "none."

4. What are "DERIVED NO EFFECT LEVEL" (DNEL)?

• The level of exposure above which humans should not be exposed. Used in REACH quantitative risk characterization and is established for the substance based on:
  • Population: Workers, consumers and the general population (via environment)
  • Route: Inhalation, dermal and ingestion exposure
  • Duration: Acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) exposure
  • Effect: Systemic or local
• Derived for chemicals having a threshold mode of action
• Potential for many different DNELs because of different combinations and exposures
• A very good summary of this topic is found here
• Another good summary is found here
• The GESTIS DNEL Database has some values

5. In SDScribe™ , I notice that there are optional PPE Pictograms which can be selected in tab 8.2 Exposure-protection. Am I required to add these to my SDSs? And how do I replace the PPE pictograms with my own in-house ones?

• You are not required to display PPE pictograms.
• To replace the in-house versions with your own images, make sure the images have the same file name as the one that you want to replace (e.g., WP_gloves.jpg) and is located in this folder: C:\Hazard_Solutions\Database\Resources\Graphics
• To re-size the images from 30-150 pixels, enter a value in the text box. The default size if 48 pixels.