Agency STEL term Abbreviation Safe Work Australia (SWA) Short term exposure limit STEL American Conference of Threshold Limit TLV-STEL Governmental Industrial Term Exposure Limit Hygienists (ACGIH®) Deutsche — — Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Scientific Committee on Short-term exposure limit STEL (15 mins) Occupational Exposure Limits of the European Commission (SCOEL) Dutch Expert Committee on Short term exposure limit 15 minutes TWA Occupational Safety of the Health Council of the Netherlands (DECOS) Occupational Alliance for Risk Short Exposure Limit STEL or Short-Term TWA Science and American Industrial Hygiene Association (OARS/AIHA) Peak limitation A peak limitation is a maximum airborne concentration of a substance determined over the shortest analytically practicable period of time that does not exceed 15 minutes (Safe Work Australia, 2013a). A peak limitation exposure standard must not be exceeded at any time as it is considered to pose undue risk to workers. Factors that favour assigning a peak limitation instead of a STEL include: the health effect is severe the health effect is immediate, intolerable or irreversible, or there is a very steep concentration-response or dose-response relationship (i.e. there is a narrow margin between a no effect concentration and a concentration that causes a severe adverse effect). That is, the concentration should be strictly controlled to minimise the risk of adverse effects that may occur if there are acute fluctuations in airborne concentrations of the chemical, despite compliance with a 15-minute average reading. The ACGIH®, SCOEL, OARS/AIHA, DFG and DECOS assign peak limitations, though with differing names (Table 3). For the purpose of evaluation, all are considered equivalent to Safe Work peak limitation. Australia’s If a peak limitation is assigned in conjunction with a TWA value, the Peak limitation will normally be in the range: Table 3 Summary of equivalent peak limitation terminology Agency Peak limitation term Safe Work Australia (SWA) Peak limitation American Conference of Governmental Threshold Limit Value-Ceiling (TLV-C) Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®)
Agency STEL term Abbreviation Safe Work Australia (SWA) Short term exposure limit STEL American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®) Threshold Limit Exposure Limit TLV-STEL Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) — — Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits of the European Commission (SCOEL) Short-term exposure limit STEL (15 mins) Dutch Expert Committee on Occupational Safety of the Health Council of the Netherlands (DECOS) Short term exposure limit 15 minutes TWA Occupational Alliance for Risk Science and American Industrial Hygiene Association (OARS/AIHA) Short Term Exposure Limit STEL or Short-Term TWA Peak limitation A peak limitation is a maximum airborne concentration of a substance determined over the shortest analytically practicable period of time that does not exceed 15 minutes (Safe Work Australia, 2013a). A peak limitation exposure standard must not be exceeded at any time as it is considered to pose undue risk to workers. Factors that favour assigning a peak limitation instead of a STEL include: the health effect is severe the health effect is immediate, intolerable or irreversible, or there is a very steep concentration-response or dose-response relationship (i.e. there is a narrow margin between a no effect concentration and a concentration that causes a severe adverse effect). That is, the concentration should be strictly controlled to minimise the risk of adverse effects that may occur if there are acute fluctuations in airborne concentrations of the chemical, despite compliance with a 15-minute average reading. The ACGIH®, SCOEL, OARS/AIHA, DFG and DECOS assign peak limitations, though with differing names (Table 3). For the purpose of evaluation, all are considered equivalent to Safe Work Australia’s peak limitation. If a peak limitation is assigned in conjunction with a TWA value, the Peak limitation will normally be in the range: Table 3 Summary of equivalent peak limitation terminology Agency Peak limitation term Safe Work Australia (SWA) Peak limitation American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®) Threshold Limit Value-Ceiling (TLV-C)