Commission for the Investigation of Health

Dr K. Ziegler-Skylakakis, Secretariat of the Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Workplace Area (MAK Commission), Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany... 

Greim H (ed) Occupational Toxicants, Vol 13, critical data evaluation for MAK values and classification of carcinogens. Commission for the investigation of health hazards of chemical compounds in the work area, Bisphenol A, p 49. New York, VCH, 1999... 

Germany - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (2000) List of MAK and BAT Values 2000. Commission for the investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area. Report No. 36. Wiley-VHC, Weinheim, Germany. 

Definitions and other parameters. The MAK were defined as the concenhation of a substance in die mr at the woilq)lace which generally does not impair the health of workets. According to this definition, MAK valu could only be established for those substances, for which a No Observable Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) or a Lowest Observable Effect Level (LOAEL) could be determined and they were therefore - in theory - h th based. In theory , because initial health-based recommendations of die MAK Commission (Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Qiemical Compounds in die Work Area were discussdl and eventually changed for socio-economic reasons by the Committee on H ardous Substances before bdng finally adopted. 

The German "Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Working Group Analytical Chemistry" has developed a continuous nebulization FAAS method for copper in serum based on a 1 -r- 1 dilution (dilution depends on the applied burner system) with a determination limit of 0.1 mg/L At a mean copper concentration of 1.24 mg/L the within batch precision was 2.4% and the day-to-day precision 3.2% (Winter and Schaller, 1985). Accuracy was checked against certified reference materials. The method was applied on fortified samples from a serum pool of healthy persons and compared by a GF/ AS method developed and tested at the same time (Angerer et al., 1985). The FAAS method is still in successful routine use in a number of German laboratories because of its reliability, simplicity and speed (Schaller, 1993). 

This procedure was originally developed by Lehnert et al. (1969) and has been adopted as an officially recommended analytical method for PbB determination in blood and urine by the working group "Analytical Chemistry" of the "Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area" of the Deutsche Forschungsgemenschaft in 1974 (Angerer and Schaller, 1985 Henschler). The method can be described as follows ... 

German Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemieal Compounds in the Work Area None, beeause probably carcinogoiie in humans 40 pg/dL for men and women over 45 years old 10 pg/dL for women under 45 years old 2006... 

Preferably, well-established standard methods of analysis are presented. In Germany, standard procedures for biological monitoring are published by the Working Group Analyses of Hazardous Substances in Biological Materials of the Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area . Additionally, analytical methods are included, that modify former methods to improve accuracy and precision or obtain lower limits of detection. 

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