Occupational settings issues

The first European binding hmit value was estabhshed for vinyl chloride in 1978 by directive 78/610/EEC [6-49]. At this time the European community was beginning to address occupational safety issues by setting minimum requirements for reduction of occupational risks. Vinyl chloride, still an important chemical used as the monomer in the production of polyvinylchloride, has been classified as carcinogenic of category I. Meanwhile, directive 78/610/EEC was repealed and replaced by the chemical agents directive 98/24/EC. At present, the hmit value for vinyl chloride is 3 ppm. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) covers a broad range of issues relating to worker health and safety, many of which impact the power generation industry (16,17). The Act sets standards designed to protect worker health and safety, particularly in industrial settings. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration, organized under the U.S. Department of Labor, implements and enforces OSHA standards and periodically updates poHcies governing worker health and safety. 

Occupational Safety and Health. OSHA has set no specific limits for sodium and potassium sibcates (88). A pmdent industrial exposure standard could range from the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for inert or nuisance particulates to the PEL for sodium hydroxide, depending on the rate of dissolution and the concentration of airborne material. Material safety data sheets issued by siUcate producers should be consulted for specific handling precautions, recommended personal protective equipment, and other important safety information. 

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) of 1970 provides the Department of Labor authority to set comprehensive workplace safety and health standards, including permissible exposures to chemicals in the workplace, and authority to conduct inspections and issue citations for violations of safety and health regulations. 

Rules and regulations have been developed to product individuals from the potential health effects of 1,1-dichloroethane in air. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has set a threshold limit value (TLV) of 810 mg/m (200 ppm) 1,1-dichloroethane in workroom air to protect workers during an 8-hour shift over a 40-hour work week. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 400 mg/m (98.9 ppm). 

A sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the effect of the thermodynamic properties and the Kihara parameters on the hydrate equilibrium calculations. It was demonstrated that the Kihara parameters (s/k and a) had a more significant effect on hydrate equilibrium predictions than the thermodynamic properties (Ap and Ah ) for the cases of methane and propane that were examined in this work. It was observed that parameters obtained from one set of experiments could not always be used in correlating successfully other hydrate experimental data sets. This problem was more pronounced in cases that the fitted parameters were to be used for other properties such as virial coefficients or viscosities. Finally, issues such as satisfactory predictions at very high pressures and multiple cage occupancy need to be considered. 

---