An overview of setting occupational exposure limits (OELs) for pharmaceuticals

Introduction Occupational exposure limits (OELs) 1 for the protection of workers have been around at least since 1939 when the National (later changed to American) Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) published its inaugural acceptable workplace exposure limits (now known as threshold limit values, or TLVs). In 1970, the U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Act incorporated by reference the 1968 ACGIH TLVs as enforceable limits. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) refers to these enforceable limits as permissible exposure limits (PELs).