Department of Health and Human Services

Institute of Health PubHcation 80-1938, PubHc Health Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C., May 1980. 

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), under the Department of Health and Human Services, works with OSHA. It is NIOSH s responsibihty to determine safe exposure limits for chemical substances and to recommend to OSHA that these limits be adopted as standards. 

The FDA is headed by the Commissioner of Food and Dmgs. This position is not a Cabiaet-level office but falls within the PubHc Health Service (PHS), a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The post of FDA Commissioner is subject to HHS pohtical clearance and Senate confirmation, and the Commissioner is ultimately accountable to HHS, Congress, and the President of the United States. The Commissioner has a staff to assist ia poHcy making and several deputy commissioners to oversee operation of ah. the subordinate units. FDA has six regional offices within the country, each responsible for a section of the country, and 21 district offices. Persons with technical background typicahy work ia one of FDA s chemistry laboratories or as investigators or consumer safety officers. 

The chemical companies maintain chemical properties sheets including hazardous quantities. A general listing of companies on the Internet can be reached at web site http //www.neis.com/chemical companies.htmI. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publishes the NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, available from NIOSH Publications Mail Stop C-13,4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998, phone 1-800-35-NIOSH or on the Internet http //www.cds.gov/niosh/homepage.html. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health. Primary Containment of Biohazards Selection, Installation and Use of Biological Safety Cabinets. Washington, DC U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1995 (available on http // www.niehs.nih.gov/odhsb/biosafe/bsc/bsc.htm)... 

Holcomb, M. L., and R. C. Scholz. Evaluation of Air Cleaning and Monitoring Equipment Used in Recirculation Systems, NIOSH Technical Report, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 81-133. Cincinnati U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (Apr. 1981). 

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