Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Measuring Exposures and Assessing Health Effects (1986)
Chapter: Appendix A: Guidelines for Public and Occupational Chemical Exposures to Materials That Are Also Found in Environmental
Appendix A:
Guidelines for Public and Occupational Chemical Exposures to Materials That Are Also Found in Environmental Tobacco Smoke
Table A-1 gives a series of guidelines for public and industrial populations regarding exposure to chemicals that are also constituents in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Not all of the constituents of ETS thought to be toxic or carcinogenic have had guideline levels established. The values in the table are taken from the fourth edition of the Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values, published by the American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists (1986). The NIOSH recommendations and OSHA standards can be found in the NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1981).
Each of these guidelines and standards has been established with different considerations in mind. The EPA standards, which apply to outdoor environments, have been established by law to protect the most susceptible individuals. The OSHA standards and ACGIH, NIOSH, and European guidelines have been established for the normal, healthy adult working populations. These guidelines accept some level of risk to some people. They do not consider children, the elderly, or populations with preexisting health conditions who may be at greater risk for health effects of exposure. The appropriate guidelines for susceptible populations probably would be lower. These industrial guidelines also differ from the environmental standards in that they assume that the exposure is limited to a workday period or a time-limited emergency.
TABLE A-1 Some Occupational and Public Standards for Materials That Are Also in Environmental Tobacco Smoke
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Public |
Industrial |
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|
EPA |
ACGIHa |
NIOSHb |
OSHAc |
European Standardsd |
|
Vapor Phase |
|
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|
Carbon monoxide |
1 mg/m3—max. 8-h 40 mg/m3—max. 1-h Neither to be exceeded more than once per year |
TLVe—50 ppm STELf—400 ppm |
35 ppm—8 h TWAg 200 ppm ceilh (no min time) |
50 ppm |
West Germany—50 ppm Sweden—35 ppm |
|
Carbon dioxide |
None |
TLV—5,000 ppm STEL—30,000 ppm |
10,000 ppm—10-h TWA 30,000 ppm—10-min ceil. |
5,000 ppm |
— |
|
Benzene |
None |
TLV—10 ppm A2 |
1 ppm—60-min ceil. |
10 ppm 50 ppm—10-min ceil. |
Sweden—10 ppm West Germany—0 ppm |
|
Toluene |
None |
TLV—100 ppm STEL—150 ppm |
100 ppm—10-h TWA 200 ppm—10-min ceil. |
200 ppm 300 ppm ceil. 500 ppm—10-min peak |
West Germany—200 ppm Sweden—100 ppm |
|
Formaldehyde |
None |
TLV—1 ppm A2 |
Lowest feasible limit |
3 ppm 5 ppm ceil. 10 ppm—30-min ceil. |
Sweden—2 ppm West Germany—1 ppm |
|
Acrolein |
None |
TLV—0.1 ppm STEL—0.3 ppm |
None |
0.1 ppm |
— |
|
Acetone |
None |
TLV—750 ppm STEL—1,000 ppm |
250 ppm—10-h TWA |
1,000 ppm |
Sweden—500 ppm Germany—1,000 ppm |
|
Pyridine |
None |
TLV—5 ppm STEL—10 ppm |
None |
5 ppm |
West Germany, Sweden—5 ppm |
|
Hydrogen cyanide |
None |
Ceiling limiti—10 ppm |
4.7 ppm—10-min ceil. |
4.7 ppm |
West Germany, Great Britain—10 ppm |
|
Hydrazine |
None |
TLV—0.1 ppm A2 |
0.04 mg/m3—120-min ceil. |
1 ppm |
— |
|
Ammonia |
None |
TLV—25 ppm STEL—35 ppm |
50 ppm—5-min ceil. |
50 ppm |
West Germany—50 ppm Sweden—25 ppm |
|
Methylamine |
None |
TLV—10 ppm |
None |
10 ppm |
— |
|
Dimethylamine |
None |
TLV—10 ppm |
None |
10 ppm |
— |
|
Nitrogen oxide |
None |
TLV—25 ppm |
25 ppm |
25 ppm—10-h TWA |
— |
|
Nitrogen dioxide |
0.053 ppm—annual arithmetic mean |
TLV—3 ppm STEL—5 ppm |
1 ppm—15 min ceil. |
5 ppm ceil. |
West Germany—5 ppm Sweden—2 ppm |
|
N-Nitrosodimethylamine |
None |
A2 |
None |
Listed as a cancer-suspect agent |
— |
|
Formic acid |
None |
TLV—5 ppm |
None |
5 ppm |
— |
|
Acetic acid |
None |
TLV—10 ppm STEL—15 ppm |
None |
10 ppm |
— |
|
Participate phase |
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|
Participate matter |
75 µg/m3—annual geometric mean 260 µg/m3/24-h max Not to be exceeded more than once per year |
TLV—10 mg/m3 |
None |
15 mg/m3 |
— |
|
Nicotine |
None |
TLV—0.5 mg/m3 |
None |
0.5 mg/m3 |
— |
|
Phenol |
None |
TLV—19 mg/m3 |
20 mg/m3—10-h TWA 60 mg/m3—15-min ceil. |
19 mg/m3 |
West Germany—19 mg/m3 |
|
Catechol |
None |
TLV—5 ppm |
None |
None |
— |
|
Hydroquinone |
None |
TLV—2 mg/m3 |
2 mg/m3—15-min ceil. |
2 mg/m3 |
— |
|
Aniline |
None |
TLV—2 ppm |
None |
5 ppm |
— |
|
2-Toluidine |
None |
TLV—2 ppm A2 |
None |
5 ppm |
West Germany—5 ppm |
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Public |
Industrial |
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|
EPA |
ACGIHa |
NIOSHb |
OSHAc |
European Standardsd |
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|
2-Naphthylamine |
None |
A1b |
None |
Listed as a cancer-suspect agent |
— |
|
|
4-Aminobiphenyl |
None |
A1b |
None |
Listed as a cancer-suspect agent |
— |
|
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aAmerican Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists. bNational Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. cOccupational Safety and Health Administration. dIncludes standards set in Sweden, Great Britain, and West Germany as examples. eTLV=threshold limit value—time-weighted average concentration for a normal 8-hour workday, 40-hour week. fSTEL=short-term exposure limit—15-minute time-weighted average exposure that should not be exceeded. gTWA=time-weighted average. hCeil.=ceiling. iCeiling Limit—concentration that should not be exceeded during any part of the working exposure. A2—Industrial substance suspect of carcinogenic potential for man; exposure should be avoided. A1b—Human carcinogen. Substance associated with industrial processes, recognized to have carcinogenic potential without an assigned TLV. For substances of this designation, no exposure or contact by any route—respiratory, skin, or oral, as detected by the most sensitive methods—should be permitted. NOTE: Materials in ETS for which there are no standards: carbonyl sulfide, 3-methylpyridine, 3-vinylpyridine, anatabine, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, cholesterol, y-butyrolactone, quinoline, harman, N-nitrosonornicotine, NNK, N-nitrosodiethanolamine, zinc, polonium-210. |
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The guidelines are given in terms of cumulative exposure over a period of time or in terms of maximal concentrations. The Threshold Limit Value (TLV) is the time-weighted average concentration of a normal 8-hour workday or 40-hour work week. The Short-Term Exposure Limit (STEL) is defined as a 15-minute time-weighted average exposure that should not be exceeded at any time during a workday, even if the 8-hour time-weighted average is within the TLV. Exposures at the STEL should not be repeated more than four times per day, with at least 60 minutes between successive exposures at the STEL. The ceiling limit is the concentration that should never be exceeded.
Finally, it should be noted that the guidelines are established for individual chemicals, without consideration of complex mixtures that may contain these chemicals. The behavior of the chemicals in a complex mixture over time is likely to be complicated. In summary, the direct comparisons of these guidelines with ambient levels measured in natural or experimental conditions should be made with caution. In some cases, the comparison may be inappropriate.
REFERENCES
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values and Biological Exposure Indices, fifth ed. Cincinnati, Ohio: ACGIH, 1986. 743 pp.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH/OSHA Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. DHEW Publ. No. 85–14. Cincinnati, Ohio: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1985. 241 pp.
Swedish Board of Occupational Safety and Health (Arbetarksyddsstyrelsens). Hygieniska Gransvarden. Stockholm, Sweden: Liber Distribution, 1984. 60 pp.
