Permissible Exposure Levels and Emergency Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Airborne Contaminants.

摘要

The U.S. Navy requested that the National Research Council's Committee on Toxicology recommend permissible exposure levels (PELs) for zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate (ziram) and ethylhexyl nitrate. No exposure levels for these compounds have been recommended either by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. The U.S. Army's Surgeon General's office also requested the 2-min emergency exposure guidance levels (EEGLs) for hydrogen chloride because of the Army's concern for the short-term high-level exposure of soldiers to hydrogen chloride vapors released during firing of various rocket motors and missiles. In response to these requests, the Committee on Toxicology set up the Subcommittee on Permissible Exposure Levels. The subcommittee, whose expertise is in toxicology, inhalation toxicology, genetics, biostatistics, medicine, and pathology, evaluated the toxicity data on ziram, ethylhexyl nitrate, and hydrogen chloride. In addition to the recommendations for PELs for ziram and ethylhexyl nitrate and EEGLs for hydrogen chloride, the subcommittee has identified deficiencies in the data and made recommendations for additional research. The subcommittee believes that the recommended exposure levels will provide adequate protection for workers and soldiers from these chemicals.