Of course, at a minimum you follow the legal requirements which are OSHA PELs. Some states have adopted the 1989 PELs and so they must be followed and in some cases some states have established values of their own which must be followed.

 

If you have the luxury of controlling to whatever level you choose, you can use the RELs or the TLVs, etc. Keep in mind however, that the latter values are set only with the effect in mind and not necessarily the economic and technical feasibility.

 

Monona's comment makes me think of how our EPA does it - requiring the Best Available Control Technology (BACT), Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT), etc. 

Bill Watt

Associate Professor

Wayne State U.

 

     
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Tung" <jimtung**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Sent: Friday, December 3, 2010 4:22:54 PM
Subject: [DCHAS-L] OHSA/NIOSH Permissible limits

Hello, all:

When the NIOSH pocket guide has different permissible limits (NIOSH versus OSHA), which is the better one to follow?

For example, benzene's limit for NIOSH is 0.1 ppm (10 hr workday), while OSHA's limit is 1 ppm (8 hour workday.)

Why the difference? From a legal perspective, which is a better choice?

Thanks in advance for any advice you might give; obviously, any advice people might give is non-binding, you're not responsible, legal mumbo-jumbo, blah, blah.

Cheers, Jim Tung

Lead Hazardous Waste Coordinator
Obiter Research LLC
Champaign, IL