OH2.5: Limitations and Abuses of Standards - Resources
LIMITATIONS OF OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE STANDARDS:
There are exposure standards for about 700 substances, although thousands of hazardous chemicals are used;
There is a time-delay between generation of health data and their incorporation into standards;
Governments are usually forced to adopt compromise standards which do not fully protect workers;
Exposure limits apply to inhalation and do not take into account other routes of entry into the body.
The majority of occupational exposure limits are for individual compounds or substances whereas workers are often exposed to a cocktail of mixtures.
COMMON ABUSES OF STANDARDS:
Improper application of standards which are known not to be protective which could lead to serious health consequences;
Hygiene standards apply to very few substances, however, the fact that a substance is not listed does not imply that it is safe;
Standards should not be used as an index of relative hazard, i.e., they should not be used compare potential toxicities
of different substances.as the scientific and administrative bases on which they have been compiled are unlikely to be equivalent and one will end up comparing apples with oranges.;
Exceedance of standards should not be used as proof of existing diseases;
There is no sharp distinction between safe and dangerous concentrations;
Occupational exposure standards are developed for use in workplaces and should not therefore extrapolate simply
to long-term, non occupational exposure;
Although there are exposure limits for a number of hazardous substances, not all of them have
validated sampling and analytic methods;
Hygiene standards should not be used to justify bad practices. Where it is technically feasible to c
ontrol exposure below the standard, then it is good practice to do so.
