Benzene Standard Affirmed

Chemical Market Reporter, March, 1997

AN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY and Health Administration official says the agency has no plans to tighten the current standard for benzene exposures. The government is looking at other chemicals that pose greater risks and are present at much higher levels than benzene, according to Peter Infante, director of OSHA's office of standards review.

OSHA's current permissible exposure limit for benzene is one part per million over an eight hour period. At a meeting in Washington, D.C., of the Toxicology Forum, Mr. Infante was asked if OSHA was considering lowering the standard to 0.5 parts per million. He said he was unaware of any formal petition seeking a reduction and noted that while health risks still exist at the one part per million exposure level, OSHA decided...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.