Threshold Limit Values for

Chemical Substances
Adopted by ACGIH with
Intended Changes
 Policy Statement
 The TLVs (Threshold Limit Values)
are designed as guidelines to have a
control on health hazards.
 These are not developed for use as
legal guidelines and ACGIH does not
advocate their use as such.
 No individual other than someone
trained in this discipline can apply
these guidelines .
 Points to remember
 TLVs represent conditions to which
all workers may be repeatedly
exposed day after day without
adverse health effects.
 Persons previously having health
problems might be affected seriously.
 The latest TLV documentation should
be referred to get complete
information of a chemical as TLV is
revised often.
Threshold limit value -Time
weighted average (TLV-TWA)
This is the concentration averaged over an 8 hr.
workday and a 40 hr. workweek, to which the
worker may be xeposed day after day without
adverse affect.
• TLV values (2000)
Acetophenone - 10 ppm.
Carbon monoxide - 25 ppm.
Benzene - 10 ppm.
Cobalt carbony - 0.1 ppm.
Formic acid - 5 ppm.
 Threshold limit value-
Short-term Exposure limit
The concentration to which workers can be exposed
continuously for a short period of time without suffering
from
• Irritation
• Chronic or irreversible tissue damage
• Narcosis of sufficient degree to increase the likelihood of
accidental injury, impair self-rescue or materially reduce
work efficiency
• and provided that the daily TLV-TWA is not exceeded.
• STEL values (2000)
• Acrolein - 0.3 ppm.
• Ammonia - 35 ppm.
• Chlorine dioxide -0.3 ppm.
• Decaborane -0.15 ppm.
 Threshold limit value- ceiling
(TLV-C)
 This is the concentration that should not be exceeded
during any part of the working exposure.
• If instantaneous monitoring is not feasible, then the TLV-C
can be assessed by sampling over a 15 minute period.
• For some substances only TLV-C may be relevant.
• For some substances more than one categories may be
relevant depending on their physiologic condition. If any of
the TLVs is exceeded a potential hazard is presumed to
exist.
• TLV-C values (2000)
• n-Butanol - 152 ppm.
• tert-Butyl chromate - 0.1 ppm.
• Ehtylene Glycol vapor and myst -50 ppm.
• Glutaraldehyde -0.2 ppm.
 How does TWA and C differs?
 Ceiling limit is best suited for
chemicals that are fast acting and do
not have a good control by the use of
TWA.
 TWA requires an explicit limit to the
excursions that are permissible
above the limited TLVs, whereas the
ceiling limit places a definite
boundary.
 Excursion limits
 Even if the 8 hr. TLV-TWA is within limits
excursions above the TLV-TWA should be
controlled
 The maximum recommended excursion should be
related to variability generally observed in actual
industrial processes.
 During a workday, excursions may exceed 3
times the TLV-TWA for no more than a total of 30
minutes and under no circumstances should they
exceed 5 times the TLV-TWA; and under no case
the TLV-TWA should be exceeded.
* where : TLV-TWA is threshold limit value-Time weighted average.
 “Skin” notation
 Listed substances followed by the designation “skin” refer to
the potential significant contribution to the overall exposure by
the cutaneous route, including mucous membranes and the
eyes, either by contact with vapors or, of probable greater
significance, by direct skin contact with the substance.
 Materials having a relatively low dermal LD50 would be given a
skin notation based on acute animal toxicity data.
 It alerts that air sampling alone is insufficient to accuaratey
measure quantitative exposure to prevent cutaneous
absorption.
 Skin Chemicals
Aminodiphenyl.
Butoxyethanol.
Catechol.
Cresol.
HexaChlorobenzene.
 Mixtures
 Special consideration should be given also to the application
of the TLVs in assessing the health hazards that may be
associated with exposure to mixtures of two or more
substances.
• TLV of a mixture:
If, TLV = c1/t1+c2/t2+....cn/tn
exceeds unity, then the Threshold Limit of the mixture is
considered to be exceeded.
where,
c1,c2…. cn are concentrations of different
substances in a mixture, and
t1,t2…. tn are TLVs of corresponding substances.
 Respirable and Inhalable dust
 TLVs are expressed in terms of inhalable
dust for solid substances and liquefied
mists, except where the term “respirable
dust” is used.
The particle size-selective TLVs (PPS-TLVs)
are expressed in 3 forms:
• Inhalable Particulate Mass TLVs (IPM-
TLVs).
• Thoracic Particulate Mass TLVs (TPM-
TLVs).
• Respirable Particulate Mass TLVs (RPM-
TLVs).
 Particles not otherwise
classified (PNOC)
 Many substances are not on the list for which there are no
evidence of toxic effects.
 TLV committee recommends the use of the term “PNOC” to
emphasize that these materials are potentially toxic.
 Particulates under PNOC heading are those containing no
asbestos and < 1% crystalline silica.
 For otherwise non-toxic dusts:
Inhalable particulate -TLV-TWA 10mg/m³.
Respirable particulate - TLV-TWA 3 mg/m³.
Simple Asphyxiants-”Inert” gases or
vapors
 The limiting factor being the available
Oxygen,TLV may not be recommended for
each simple Asphyxiant.
 The minimal Oxygen content should be
18% by volume under normal atmospheric
pressure.
 Account should be taken for several
Asphyxiants which present an explosion
hazard.
 Physical Factors
Physical factors which act adversely to increase the toxic
response of a substance are :
• Heat
• Ultra violet rays
• Ionizing radiation
• Humidity
• Abnormal pressure (altitude)
• Light
These may place added stress on body, TLVs have built-in
safety factors to guard against adverse effects to moderate
deviations but not gross deviations.
• Examples: Continuous work at temperature above 32ºC
might be considered gross deviation. Judgment must then
be exercised in proper adjustment of the TLV.
 Unlisted Substances
 TLV is not a complete list of all hazardous
substances.
 Substances that do not appear on the TLV
list might be harmful or harmless.
 While using Unlisted Substances, the
medical and scientific literature should be
reviewed.
 It is also necessary to conduct preliminary
toxicity studies.
 Varying work schedules
 Particular judgment to provide same
safety to the workers working for a
schedule different from the conventional 8
hr. day and 40 hr. week.
 Field hygienists are referred to the “Brief
and Scala model”:
• It reduces the TLV proportionately for both
increased exposure time and reduced recovery
time.
• Example: exposure to 8 times the TLV-TWA for
1 hour and zero exposure during the
remainder of the shift.
Conversion of TLVs in ppm to
mg/m³
 The conversion is based on 760 torr barometric
pressure at 25ºC(77ºF), and molar volume of 24.45
liters

 TLV in mg/m³ =
(TLV in ppm)*(gram molecular weight of
substance) /24.45

• TLV in ppm =
(TLV in mg/m³)*(24.45)/(gram molecular
weight of substance).
 Biologically derived airborne
contaminants
 Biologically derived airborne contaminants include bioaerosals and
volatile oraganic compounds released from living organisms.
 Guidelines for the Assessment of Bioaerosals given in the Indoor
environment, ACGIH, 1989.
 The guidelines rely on medical assessment of symptoms,
evaluation of building performance, and professional judgment.
 There are no TLVs that allow ready interpretation of Bioaerosal
data.
 Examples
 Bacteria.
 Fungi.
 Aspergillus fumigatus.
 Legionella pneumophila.
 Endotoxin.