Acrylonitrile OSHA standards

Thus far this scheme has been incorporated into OSHA standards for 5 contaminants, i.e., vinyl chloride, acrylonitrile, benzene, lead, and arsenic, and has become a legal requirement of all employers whose personnel may be exposed to these substances. This scheme is likely to be incorporated into virtually all future OSHA standards (15). 

OSHA has in the past decade completed a number of rulemakings on occupational carcinogens, including arsenic, benzene, asbestos, ethylene oxide and acrylonitrile. The agency conducted risk assessments and concluded that occupational exposure standards - so-called Permissible Exposure Levels, PELs - were too high and had to be reduced. 

Regulations (Standards - 29CFR) Acrylonitrile - 1910.1045, US Department of Labour, www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show document p id=10065 p table=standards... 

Acrylonitrile in Air. As a consequence of the 1977 interim results of both the Dow and DuPont studies, OSHA issued an emergency temporary standard on Jan. 17,1978, specifying that the 8-h time-weighted average exposure to airborne acrylonitrile should not exceed 2 ppm prior to 1977, 20 ppm was allowed. This standard covered all workplaces manufacturing or using acrylonitrile as a raw material, as well as fabrication facilities processing acrylonitrile-based polymers. 

Appendix D lists methods of sampling and analysis which have been tested by NIOSH and OSHA for use with acrylonitrile. NIOSH and OSHA have validated modifications of NIOSH Method S-156 (See Appendix D) under laboratory conditions for concentrations below 1 ppm. The employer has the obligation of selecting a monitoring method which meets the accuracy and precision requirements of the standard under his unique field conditions. The standard requires that methods of monitoring must be accurate, to a 95-percent confidence level, to 35-percent for concentrations of AN at or above 2 ppm, and to 50-percent for concentrations below 2 ppm. In addition to the methods described in Appendix D, there... 

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