Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)

A Permissible Exposure Limit, or PEL, is the maximum amount of a hazardous substance a worker can legally be exposed to in the air, set and enforced by OSHA. For asbestos, the PEL is currently 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter of air averaged over an eight-hour day. The limit has been tightened many times as evidence of asbestos harm grew, and earlier, much weaker limits allowed exposures now known to be dangerous.

Origin

PELs were established under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which created OSHA. The asbestos PEL began at 12 fibers per cubic centimeter in 1971 and was lowered in stages to 2, then 0.2, and finally 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter in 1994, tracking the mounting evidence that no safe level had been demonstrated.

Significance in Asbestos Context

The history of the asbestos PEL is often powerful evidence in a patient's case, because the early limits were far too high and were set long after companies knew of the dangers. If a patient worked when the limit was 12 fibers, showing that their employer or a product maker knew the risk yet relied on a lax standard can support claims of negligence. The repeated lowering of the PEL documents that regulators and industry understood the hazard was worse than previously admitted. Records of air monitoring against the PEL at a worksite can also help establish how heavy an exposure was.

Example Sentence

His attorney pointed out that the plant's air readings in 1975 exceeded even the weak PEL in force at the time, showing the exposure was both illegal and knowingly dangerous.

Related Terms

OSHA, Threshold Limit Value, Air Monitoring, Fiber Counting, Government Regulations, Cumulative Exposure

Notes

• Ask whether any workplace air-monitoring records exist for the years you worked; they can show exposures measured against the PEL then in force.
• Note which PEL was legally in effect during your employment, since exposures that were high even under a weak old limit strengthen a case.
• Preserve any OSHA citations or inspection reports for your worksite; they can document known violations.