NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) Testimony to DOL (Department of Labor) on Proposed Standard for Occupational Exposure to Inorganic Arsenic by Edward J. Baier, September 8, 1976

摘要

The testimony addressed three technical issues concerning the arsenic (7440382) standard. These three aspects were sampling and analysis, sputum cytology, and respiratory protection. NIOSH concluded that personal sampling can be used to collect air samples to measure worker exposure to arsenic at the recommended level with a precision of about plus or minus 25 percent at the 95 percent confidence level of 0.8 micrometer pore size filter collected samples using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Analysis of 0.06 to 0.200 microgram samples of arsenic will yield an absorbance which may be too low for acceptable quantitative analysis. Efforts were underway to develop a reliable method for determining arsine (7784421) in the desired range. Reviews of work on sputum cytology indicated that periodic exfoliative cytological study of individuals who were at an elevated risk of lung cancer assisted in identifying individuals with premalignant disease and aided in the early diagnosis of malignant disease. Concerning respiratory protection, the proposed OSHA standard for inorganic arsenic specified half mask respirators with high efficiency filters as minimum air purifying respiratory protection. The minimal respiratory protection recommended was an approved gas mask with a chin style or a front or back mounted acid gas canister with a high efficiency particulate filter.