Scribd
Upload
789 views17 pages

Threshold Limit Value - Wikipedia PDF

The threshold limit value (TLV) is the level of exposure to a chemical that workers can be exposed to daily without adverse effects over a working lifetime. The TLV is determined by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists and is based on the known toxicity of chemicals. There are three types of TLV limits that define average, short-term, and ceiling exposure limits. Exposure assessments use TLVs and other occupational exposure limits to evaluate if a majority of worker exposures are below safe levels and to help manage chemical risks in the workplace.

Uploaded by

Manojkumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
789 views17 pages

Threshold Limit Value - Wikipedia PDF

The threshold limit value (TLV) is the level of exposure to a chemical that workers can be exposed to daily without adverse effects over a working lifetime. The TLV is determined by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists and is based on the known toxicity of chemicals. There are three types of TLV limits that define average, short-term, and ceiling exposure limits. Exposure assessments use TLVs and other occupational exposure limits to evaluate if a majority of worker exposures are below safe levels and to help manage chemical risks in the workplace.

Uploaded by

Manojkumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 17

Threshold limit

value

The threshold limit value (TLV) of a


chemical substance is believed to be a
level to which a worker can be exposed
day after day for a working lifetime without
adverse effects. Strictly speaking, TLV is a
reserved term of the American Conference
of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
(ACGIH). TLVs issued by the ACGIH are the
most widely accepted occupational
exposure limits both in the United States
and most other countries.[1] However, it is
sometimes loosely used to refer to other
similar concepts used in occupational
health and toxicology, such as acceptable
daily intake (ADI) and tolerable daily intake
(TDI). Concepts such as TLV, ADI, and TDI
can be compared to the no-observed-
adverse-effect level (NOAEL) in animal
testing, but whereas a NOAEL can be
established experimentally during a short
period, TLV, ADI, and TDI apply to human
beings over a lifetime and thus are harder
to test empirically and are usually set at
lower levels. TLVs, along with biological
exposure indices (BEIs), are published
annually by the ACGIH.

The TLV is an estimate based on the


known toxicity in humans or animals of a
given chemical substance, and the
reliability and accuracy of the latest
sampling and analytical methods. It is not
a static definition since new research can
often modify the risk assessment of
substances and new laboratory or
instrumental analysis methods can
improve analytical detection limits. The
TLV is a recommendation by ACGIH, with
only a guideline status. As such, it should
not be confused with exposure limits
having a regulatory status, like those
published and enforced by the
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA). The OSHA
regulatory exposure limits permissible
exposure limits (PELs) published in 29CFR
1910.1000 Table Z1 are based on
recommendations made by the ACGIH in
1968, although other exposure limits were
adopted more recently. Many OSHA
exposure limits are not considered by the
industrial hygiene community to be
sufficiently protective levels since the
toxicological basis for most limits have
not been updated since the 1960s. The
National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) publishes
recommended exposure limits (RELs)
which OSHA takes into consideration
when promulgating new regulatory
exposure limits.

Definitions of TLV
The TLV for chemical substances is
defined as a concentration in air, typically
for inhalation or skin exposure. Its units
are in parts per million (ppm) for gases
and in milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3)
for particulates such as dust, smoke and
mist. The basic formula for converting
between ppm and mg/m3 for gases is
ppm = (mg/m^3) * 24.45 / molecular
weight. This formula is not applicable to
airborne particles.

Three types of TLVs for chemical


substances are defined:

1. Threshold limit value − time-weighted


average (TLV-TWA): average
exposure on the basis of a 8h/day,
40h/week work schedule
2. Threshold limit value − short-term
exposure limit (TLV-STEL): A 15-
minute TWA exposure that should not
be exceeded at any time during a
workday, even if the 8-hour TWA is
within the TLV-TWA.
3. Threshold limit value − ceiling limit
(TLV-C): absolute exposure limit that
should not be exceeded at any time

There are TLVs for physical agents as well


as chemical substances. TLVs for physical
agents include those for noise exposure,
vibration, ionizing and non-ionizing
radiation exposure and heat and cold
stress.

Defining acceptable exposure


The TLV and most other occupational
exposure limits are based on available
toxicology and epidemiology data to
protect nearly all workers over a working
lifetime. Exposure assessments in
occupational settings are most often
performed by Occupational / Industrial
Hygiene (OH/IH) professionals who gather
"Basic Characterization" consisting of all
relevant information and data related to
workers, agents of concern, materials,
equipment and available exposure
controls. The exposure assessment is
initiated by selecting the appropriate
exposure limit averaging time and
"decision statistic" for the agent. Typically
the statistic for deciding acceptable
exposure is chosen to be the majority
(90%, 95% or 99%) of all exposures to be
below the selected occupational exposure
limit. For retrospective exposure
assessments performed in occupational
environments, the "decision statistic" is
typically a central tendency such as the
mean or geometric mean or median for
each worker or group of workers. Methods
for performing occupational exposure
assessments can be found in "A Strategy
for Assessing and Managing Occupational
Exposures, Third Edition Edited by Joselito
S. Ignacio and William H. Bullock". [2]
Simple representation of exposure risk assessment
and management hierarchy based on available
information

Similar concepts
The TLV is equivalent in spirit to various
occupational exposure limits developed by
organizations around the world; however,
the materials covered, values
recommended, and definitions used can
differ amongst organizations. These
occupational exposure limits include:
United States …

WEEL (Workplace Environmental


Exposure Level), formerly created by a
committee of the American Industrial
Hygiene Association; as of January 1,
2012, new WEELs are created by a
committee of volunteers that is
supported by the Occupational Alliance
for Risk Science .[3]

Other countries …

Australia
OES Occupational exposure
standard [1]
Austria
TRK (Technische Richtkonzentration
trans. Technical Approximate
Concentration )
MAK (Maximale Arbeitsplatz-
Konzentration trans. Maximum
Workplace Concentration)
Brazil
LT (Limite de tolerância)[4]
France
VME (Valeur Moyenne d'Exposition)
VLE (Valeur Limite d'Exposition)
Germany
AGW (Arbeitsplatzgrenzwert trans.
Workplace Limit Value)
MAK (Maximale Arbeitsplatz-
Konzentration trans. Maximum
Workplace Concentration)
Indonesia
NAB (Nilai ambang batas)
Malaysia
PEL (Permissible exposure limit)
Netherlands
MAC (Maximaal Aanvaardbare
Concentratie trans. Maximum
Acceptable Concentration)
New Zealand
WES (Workplace Exposure
Standards)
Poland
NDS (Najwyższe dopuszczalne
stężenie)
Russia
ПДК (предельно допустимая
концентрация)
UK
WEL (Workplace Exposure Limit)
Ukrainian
ГДК (Гранично допустима
концентрація)

Antonymic concepts
The opposite of "safe enough for any
length of time" is "not safe for any length
of time", and IDLH values are defined for
concentrations of substances that are
immediately dangerous to life or health.

References
Exposure Assessment
1. Stellman, Jeanne Mager Stellman.
Encyclopedia of Occupational Health &
Safety . International Labour
Organization.
2. "A Strategy for Assessing and
Managing Occupational Exposures,
Third Edition Edited by Joselito S.
Ignacio and William H. Bullock AIHA
Press"
http://iweb.aiha.org/iweb/Purchase/Pr
oductDetail.aspx?
Product_code=AEAK06-327/
3. "WEEL Development Finds a New
Home" . American Industrial Hygiene
Association. February 22, 2012.
Retrieved 2013-04-26.
4. http://portal.mte.gov.br/data/files/8A7
C812D3F9B201201407CE4F9BC105D
/Anexo%20n.%C2%BA%2011_%20Age
ntes%20Qu%C3%ADmicos%20-
%20Toler%C3%A2ncia.pdf

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Threshold_limit_value&oldid=972307151"
Last edited 1 month ago by Pbsouthwood

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless


otherwise noted.

You might also like