Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a ceiling level for iodine of 0.1 ppm in air. The American Conference of Government and Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) estabUshed 0.1 ppm as the TLV (TWA) for iodine. The maximum allowable concentration in air (MAK value) is also 0.1 ppm (104—106). 

The threshold limit value (TLV) set by the American Conference of Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) for teUurium and its compounds is 0.1 mg/m which is about ten times the amount which has been known to produce the adverse garUc odor (45,50). The ACGIH TLV for teUurium hexafluoride is 0.1 mg/m or 0.02 ppm of air. Likewise, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has estabUshed its permissible exposure limit (PEL) for teUurium and its compounds at 0.1 mg/m the PEL for teUurium hexafluoride is 0.2 mg/m or 0.02 ppm of air (50). 

When it approved the New Animal Drug AppHcation (NADA) of formalin, FDA ruled that use of formalin for fisheries was safe for humans and the environment. They ruled that effluents from fish treatments at 250 mg/L should be diluted 10 times and from egg treatments 75 times if 1,000 —2,000 mg/L were used (10,11). Before registering the compound, FDA also addressed carcinogenicity by stating it was not concerned about human exposure from either water or fish treated with formalin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has procedural guidelines that should protect workers from harm fill levels of formalin. Calculations based on treatment levels demonstrated that a fishery worker is exposed to not more than 0.117 mg/L formalin in the air, well below the levels estabUshed by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to protect workers. 

Safe Exposure Levels. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has adopted workplace exposure limits designed to keep airborne concentrations weU below the levels known to cause health problems (35) including ( ) daUy time-weighted average (TWA) exposure over an eight-hour day is not to exceed beryUium concentrations of 2 lg/m of air and (2) short-term exposure should not exceed beryUium concentrations of 25... 

PSM Rule - The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration s rule "Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals," 29 CFR 1910.119. 

OSHA. 1974. U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Code of Federal Regulations. 29 CFR 1910.1000 (Table Z-l). 

The TLV is not a single entity. The ACGIH defines three categories of TLV, namely, the time-weighted average (TLV-TWA), the short-term exposure limit (TLV-STEL), and the ceiling. Because these are proprietary terms, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has adopted different terminology for essentially the same concepts, as follows ... 

Chromium and certain chromium compounds are classified as substances known to be carcinogenic. ERA classifies chromium as a de minimis carcinogen, meaning that the minimum amount of the chemical set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is considered to be carcinogenic. Chromium compounds vary greatly in their toxic and carcinogenic effects. Trivalent chromium compounds are considerably less toxic than the hexavalent compounds and are neither irritating nor corrosive. 

In addition to the Civil Rights Act, other laws and regulations affect the management ofhuman resources. For instance, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 established the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop and enforce workplace standards designed to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths (OSHA, 2007). Of particular relevance to pharmacy are OSHA s ergonomic workplace standards and its rules for preventing exposure to hazardous chemicals and bloodborne pathogens. 

In December 1988, the Organization Resources Counselors, Inc., in order to assist the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), prepared a report entitled Recommendations for Process Hazards Management of Substances with Catastrophic Au Potential. [131 This document was drafted to help OSHA revise standards for handling ref nos. hazardous materials. 

Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) A document, required by OSHA (U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations, that provides a thorough profile of a potentially hazardous substance or product. The MSDS profile includes recommendations of how to handle the product, as well as how to treat a person who swallows the product, gets the product in the eyes or is otherwise overexposed. Manufacturers of such products, such as cleansers, solvents and coatings, provide these MSDS sheets at no cost to customers and end users. 

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