Air sampling in the assessment of continuous exposures to acutely-toxic chemicals. Part I - Strategy

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Abstract
The conceptual basis for assessing the hazard of continuous exposures to acutely toxic chemicals was described. The variability of workers'' short-term exposures to airborne chemicals must be considered in establishing strategic criteria which define an acceptable (or unacceptable) environment. The argument was developed that the traditional strategy of an absolute ceiling limit was unworkable since any set of exposures can be declared out of compliance if a sufficiently large number of samples was collected. It was proposed that acute-exposure limits be defined instead as air concentrations that can be exceeded by an explicit fraction of the population of exposuress. An exceedance rate of 5% was suggested provided that exposure limits incorporated appropriate safety factors which were relatively large for potent acute toxins and small for irritants. The implications of this strategy were analyzed with some existing ceiling limits proposed by NIOSH [USA-National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health].