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New Swedish occupational standards for some organic solvents
Author(s) -
Lundberg Per,
Löt Agneta,
Johanson Gunnar,
Wennberg Arne,
Högberg Johan,
Holmberg Bo
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700190502
Subject(s) - medicine , chlorinated solvents , government (linguistics) , work (physics) , reduction (mathematics) , organic solvent , occupational medicine , occupational exposure , environmental health , chemical engineering , engineering , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , groundwater
In 1987, the Swedish government requested a unique investigation of the consequences of a 50% reduction of permissible exposure levels (PEL) for organic solvents. As a result, 29 solvents were investigated and for 25 of them a reduction—if not to 50%—was suggested. For 13 of the solvents, there existed scientific arguments for a reduction of the PEL. For 12 solvents, no specific biomedical information was available. Presumed interactions between solvents may have influenced the decisions, but technological/economic feasibility criteria may also have been used by the regulators. This suggests that the use of technological/economic feasibility criteria can give lower PELs than health criteria. This is within the intentions of the Swedish Work Environment Act.