European experiences in the development of approaches for the successful control of workplace health risks.

In recent years, several approaches have been proposed for the application of control banding concepts to the assessment and management of various workplace health and safety risks. Whilst many of the earlier approaches have originated in the UK, several of the most recent examples have been developed in Europe. The European schemes have attempted to build upon the lessons learned from the earlier control banding schemes and to apply them to new areas of health and safety. This paper analyses the evolution of the earlier approaches and reviews the more recent European developments in the context of continuing regulatory and societal demands for the improved assessment and regulation of workplace chemical risks.

Improved use of workplace exposure data in the regulatory risk assessment of chemicals within Europe.

The process of risk assessment for human health demands the availability of soundly based effects and exposure information. However, many of the available data, particularly those which seek to describe human exposures to chemicals, are of varying quality and scope. Changing public and regulatory expectations increasingly demand that the outcomes of risk assessments are seen to have duly accounted for these data, in order that their conclusions can be viewed as valid. The challenge for risk assessors, therefore, is how the different grades of data should be integrated within the overall process. A series of core values are identified that govern the relationships and the influence that different types of exposure data have within European Union (EU) regulatory risk assessment for chemicals. Building on these values, an approach is presented for evaluating workplace exposure information in the context of how such data might be used within the EU process for assessing the risks to human health of new and existing substances. The implications of adopting the approach for regulatory risk assessment within the EU and its consequent impact on current occupational hygiene practice are discussed.

The European chemical industry's needs and expectations for workplace exposure data.

Current information on exposure data is characterized by its inconsistent quality and significant gaps. These are particularly apparent amongst small- and medium-sized companies. The European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), through its Long Range Research Initiative (LRI), currently is developing a tool which aims, by virtue of it being seen as an integral part of business management software, to collect relevant exposure information across key sectors of the chemical industry.

Data solutions for the 21st century: CEFIC's vision and intentions. The European Chemical Industry Council.

Information on workplace exposures to chemicals has a role and importance that goes beyond compliance with occupational exposure limits (OELs). In particular, the increasing use of exposure data in regulatory risk assessment processes places added demands on the need to collect such information. Industry's challenge is to respond to these developments in a manner that ensures data are obtained, archived, and analyzed to standards consistent with evolving stakeholder expectations.

A structured approach to occupational hygiene in the design and operation of fine chemical plant.

In order to ensure appropriate occupational hygiene controls can be incorporated in the design and operation of fine chemical plant, a structured scheme has been developed based upon the intrinsic hazard of the materials in use. The scheme provides guidelines for managing the inherent risks to health presented by the operation of such plant, including basic recommendations on the selection and operation of selected plant equipment. Although the scheme has focused on a carcinogenic ranking system for aromatic amines and nitro compounds, with suitable modifications its underlying philosophy and principles should be capable of application to any toxicological scheme for ranking the relative hazard of chemical substances.

Exhaled breath analysis as a measure of workplace exposure to benzene ppm.

Exposures to benzene vapour were measured in a group of coal tar distillation workers and the concentration of benzene in the air that they exhaled was determined at the beginning of the following work period. Time-weighted average benzene concentrations were principally in the range 0.02-0.9 ppm. Benzene vapour was detectable in the breath of all subjects 16 h after exposure, and a progressive build-up over the working week was found. Nevertheless the relationship between exposure and concentration in exhaled breath was found to be poor. This suggests that at concentrations below about 1 ppm, the analysis of exhaled breath is not a reliable method of measuring previous exposure to benzene.