Changing Threshold Limit Values

Back in February, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) lowered their threshold limit values (TLV) for 2 common chemicals that employees are exposed to in various work situations. The recommended TLV for Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) has gone down from 10 ppm to 1 ppm; for Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), the levels dropped from 5 ppm down to 0.25 ppm. This is pretty significant! 

Granted, OSHA levels (referred to as PELs) have not changed, however, most safety professionals look closely at both organizations and generally select the more conservative value (for obvious liability reasons). So while this change is not enforceable by OSHA, safety specialists are starting to ask questions to equipment suppliers regarding air monitors to meet these change. Most direct reading monitors currently in use do not provide readings to these lower ranges. 

Check out this very thorough article from EHS Today. It reviews this topic and provides some answers to this dilemma. Feel free to contact a Safety Advisor at Conney Safety Products to discuss the monitors we have available to meet the new criteria for these airborne contaminants.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 at 7:45 am and is filed under Safety Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.