While traveling this week, I read read through October’s Synergist magazine. For those of you not familiar with The Synergist, it is a publication produced by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).
This month’s edition had two excellent articles regarding exposure limits. What are exposure limits? Simply put, these are concentrations of contaminants to which people should not be exposed. Some exposure limits are enforceable by law and others are mere recommendations. Some exposure limits apply to the entire population, and others are for healthy workers in an occupational setting. No two organizations promulgating exposure limits are the same. Below are the most commonly quoted exposure limits in the US: