by Brianna Crandall — February 3, 2012—ACGIH (the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists) announced February 1 that its Board of Directors ratified the 2012 Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological Exposure Indices (BEIs). The Board also approved recommendations for additions to the Notice of Intended Changes (NIC).
A listing of the substances that were acted upon is available online. The Annual Reports of the ratifications of the ACGIH Board will be published in the winter issue of the ACGIH newsletter, Today! Online, and can also be found online. ACGIH members can download the electronic version of the Annual Reports at no cost. Nonmembers may also acquire the Reports through the ACGIH Web site for $24.95.
Draft Documentation for the substances on the Notice of Intended Changes (NIC) are currently available for purchase from the ACGIH Store. Documentation for the adopted substances and agents will be available by March 7, 2012. All Documentation publications are in PDF format and priced at $60 each. ACGIH members are entitled to five free Documentation downloads per year.
The 2012 TLVs and BEIs book and the 2012 Guide to Occupational Exposure Values will be available soon. They can be ordered online from the ACGIH Store site, where updates on availability will also appear.
TLVs and BEIs are guidelines to be used by professionals trained in the practice of industrial hygiene, notes ACGIH. The TLVs and BEIs are not designed to be used as standards. The TLVs and BEIs are health-based values established by committees that review existing published and peer-reviewed literature in various scientific disciplines. Based on the available information, ACGIH formulates a conclusion on what level of exposure the typical worker can experience without adverse health effects. There is no consideration given to economic or technical feasibility.
The Notice of Intended Changes (NIC) is comprised of those substances and physical agents for which a limit/BEI is proposed for the first time, for which a change in the Adopted value/index is proposed, for which retention as an NIC is proposed, or for which withdrawal of the Documentation and adopted TLV/BEI is proposed. In each case, the proposals should be considered trial values during the period they are on the NIC. These proposals may be adopted at the end of the year. Documentation is available for each of the substances on the NIC and their proposed values.
This notice provides not only an opportunity for comment on these proposals, but it also solicits suggestions for substances to be considered for TLVs and/or BEIs, such as those found on the current Under Study List, notes ACGIH. Comments or suggestions should be accompanied by substantiating evidence in the form of peer-reviewed literature and forwarded in electronic format to The Science Group, ACGIH (science@acgih.org). Please refer to the ACGIH TLV/BEI Development Process on the ACGIH Web site (http://www.acgih.org/TLV/DevProcess.htm) for more information on methods of input.
ACGIH recommends that all TLV and BEI users read its Statement of Position Regarding the TLVs and BEIs, which outlines the proper usage of TLVs and BEIs.
