GESTIS - International limit values for chemical agents
Occupational exposure limits (OELs)

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Contents

This database contains a collection of occupational limit values for hazardous substances gathered from various EU member states, Australia, Canada (Ontario and Québec), Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States as of March 2012. Limit values of about 1,700 substances are listed.

The chemical names of the substances were adopted from the nomenclature as used in the original sources for national limit values. Thus, for retrieval of substances, the use of CAS numbers is strongly recommended. For synonyms of the chemical names given, please refer to e. g. GESTIS substance database.

The present database was elaborated in co-operation with experts from:

• Allgemeine Unfallversicherungsanstalt (AUVA), Austria
• Belgian Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue
• Department of Labour - Te Tari Mahi, New Zealand
• ENI Corporate, Italy
• Eurofins Danmark A/S
• Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), Great Britain
• Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (INRS), France
• Institut de recherche Robert Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST), Canada, Quebec
• Institute for Applied Environmental Research, Air Pollution Laboratory (ITM), Sweden
• Instituto Nacional de Seguridad e Higiene en el Trabajo (INSHT), Spain
• Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), South Korea
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), USA
• National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (JNIOSH), Japan
• Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (NIOM), Poland
• Országos Munkahigiénés és Foglalkozás-egészségügyi Intézet (OMFI), Hungary
• suva, Switzerland
• safe work australia, Australia
• Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area (DFG), Germany
• Workplace Safety and Health Institute (WSH), Singapore

Limit values defined by the various expert bodies and authorities differ in the criteria for their derivation, the level of protection which they offer, and their legal relevance. The short-time values and dust fractions may for example be based upon different definitions. Comprehensive explanations can be found in the original lists of limit values, which should be referred to as primary sources. The purpose of this database is merely to provide an overview of the limit values in various countries.

For limit values given in brackets, in bold or italic letters, please note the remarks.

Usage and Disclaimer of the database

The database may be made use of in occupational safety and health or in order to retrieve information about potential hazards of substances during use. Commercial use of data as well as partial or complete transfer of data into other information systems is prohibited unless to written prior consent by DGUV.

Data contained in the database have been produced and are maintained applying a maximum of care. Nevertheless, DGUV cannot for whatever reason be made liable for any damage.

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