Short-term exposure limit explained

A short-term exposure limit (STEL) is the acceptable average exposure over a short period of time, usually 15 minutes as long as the time-weighted average is not exceeded.

STEL is a term used in exposure assessment, occupational health, industrial hygiene and toxicology. The STEL may be a legal limit in the United States for exposure of an employee to a chemical substance. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (U.S. OSHA) has set OSHA-STELs for 1,3-butadiene,^[1] benzene^[2] and ethylene oxide.^[3] For chemicals, STEL assessments are usually done for 15 minutes and expressed in parts per million (ppm), or sometimes in milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m³).^[4]

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists publishes a more extensive list of STELs as threshold limit values (TLV-STEL).^[5] __TOC__

Similar national exposure limits

• United Kingdom
  • COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health).^{[6] [7]}
• Australia
  • OES Occupational Exposure Standard^[8]
• France
  • VLEP 8h00 (Valeur Limite d’Exposition Professionnelle 8h00)
  • VLEP CT (Valeur Limite d’Exposition Professionnelle Court Terme)
• Netherlands
  • MAC (Maximaal Aanvaarde Concentratie)
• Malaysia
  • PEL (Permissible Exposure Limits)
• Poland
  • NDSCh (Najwyższe dopuszczalne stężenie chwilowe)
• Russia
  • ПДК (предельно допустимая концентрация)

See also

• Permissible exposure limit
• Exposure action value

Notes and References

1. http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10087 29CFR1910.1051
2. http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10042 29CFR1910.1028
3. http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10070 29CFR1910.1047
4. Web site: Coshh Assessment Guide . Sunday, March 15, 2020
5. http://www.acgih.org/home.htm American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
6. Web site: Workplace exposure limits.
7. Web site: EH40/2005 Workplace exposure limits.
8. http://hsis.ascc.gov.au/ OES Occupational Exposure Standard