Worker Exposure Standards - the lower the number - the more potentially toxic the chemical

*From David Appleby, OSH, NZ: Many WES (Worker Exposure Stds)

are still set too high for solvents and anaesthetic gases to prevent

solvent neurotoxicity and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

These limits are political.

The lower the WES the more toxic the chemical.

A chemical with a WES of 25 is four times more toxic

than a WES of 100.

Also WES are based on studies of healthy males.

He suggested his experience is that women are more sensitive to,

and experience more harmful effects from solvents than men.

What was recommended for Inipol EAP 22 of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill cleanup?

- below quote from Anchorage Daily News, May 13, 1999

Most exposure standards for toxins are written based on an eight-hour per day, 40 hour per week work schedule. The Alaska Health Project noted that spill workers were on the job 12 hours a day or more for two weeks solid.

Exxon did not adjust allowable exposures to reflect the longer exposures, the nonprofit noted.

http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/T99032316.html

"That left the question whether the remaining PAHs in the crude oil and the cleaners and solvents - like De-Solv-It, Corexit and Inipol - presented any danger to workers, particularly in combination, and if the yellow slickers and rubber gloves and boots the workers used offered enough protection."