Difference between revisions of "Permissible exposure limit"

Latest revision as of 20:37, 20 September 2010

The permissible exposure limit (PEL or OSHA PEL) is a legal limit in the United States for exposure of an employee to a chemical substance or physical agent. For chemicals, the chemical regulation is usually expressed in parts per million (ppm), or sometimes in milligrams per cubic metre (mg/m³). Units of measure for physical agents such as noise are specific to the agent. Permissible exposure limits are established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

A PEL is usually given as a time-weighted average (TWA), although some are short-term exposure limits (STEL) or ceiling limits. A TWA is the average exposure over a specified period of time, usually a nominal eight hours. This means that, for limited periods, a worker may be exposed to concentrations higher than the PEL, so long as the average concentration over eight hours remains lower.

A short-term exposure limit is one that addresses the average exposure over a 15-30 minute period of maximum exposure during a single work shift. A ceiling limit is one that may not be exceeded for any period of time, and is applied to irritants and other materials that have immediate effects.

See also

• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• Recommended exposure limit

External links

• OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits site (includes list of PEL values, and legal references)
• 1988 OSHA PEL Project Documentation: List by Chemical Name Available from NIOSH