Extensive changes to occupational exposure limits in Korea

Our plain-English summary of Extensive changes to occupational exposure limits in Korea, by J.Y. Jeong, S. Choi, Y.L. Kho, et al (Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 2010).

The study

• Authors: J.Y. Jeong, S. Choi, Y.L. Kho, P.G. Kim
• Journal: Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology
• Published: 2010;58(2):345-8
• Cited by: 10 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are used as an important tool to protect workers from adverse chemical exposures and its detrimental effects on their health. The Ministry of Labor (MOL) can establish and publish OELs based on the Industrial Safety and Health Act in Korea. The first set of OELs was announced by the MOL in 1986. At that time, it was identical to the Threshold Limit Values of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Until 2006, none the first OELs except for those of three chemicals (asbestos, benzene, and 2-bromopropane) were updated during the last twenty years. The Hazardous Agents Review Committee established under the MOL selected 126 chemicals from 698 chemicals covered by OELs using several criteria. From 2005 to 2006, the MOL provided research funds for academic institutions and toxicological laboratories to gather the evidence documenting the need to revise the outdated OELs. Finally, the MOL notified the revised OELs for 126 chemicals from 2007 to 2008. The revised OELs of 58 substances from among these chemicals were lowered to equal or less than half the value of the original OELs. This is the most substantial change in the history of OEL revisions in Korea.

Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In plain English

This was a descriptive report, not a health study, on how Korea's Ministry of Labor revised its workplace chemical exposure limits (OELs). Until 2006, only three limits had been revised: 2-bromopropane, asbestos and benzene. A review committee chose 126 of 698 listed chemicals; new limits were announced in 2007 to 2008. Of the 126, 96 (76%) were lowered, 19 (15%) received a first limit and 11 (9%) did not change; 58 (46.0%) were cut to half or less. In 2009 the Ministry made 13 limits mandatory 'permissible limits'; an employer exceeding one without a reasonable excuse may be fined up to about US 45,000 dollars. Asbestos was listed among them at 0.1 f/cc. As an example, the metalworking fluid limit was lowered from 5 mg/m3 (mineral oil mist) and 10 mg/m3 (vegetable oil mist) as total particulate mass to 0.8 mg/m3 as extractable mass, judged technically feasible from exposure trends. The article gave no asbestos health data and named no fiber types. The authors concluded this was the most substantial change in Korean OEL amendment history.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Descriptive report on a national regulatory process for revising occupational exposure limits, with a worked example (metalworking fluids) that included a workplace exposure survey
• Who was studied: 126 chemicals selected from the 698 chemicals with OELs in Korea, revised from 2007 to 2008. For the metalworking fluid example, exposure was surveyed at five companies in 2006 and past measurement records from 2003 and 2004 were reviewed.
• Exposure: Workplace chemical exposure limits in general. Asbestos is mentioned only as one of three chemicals whose limits were revised before 2006, and as one of 13 substances given a mandatory permissible limit. No fiber types are named.
• Main results:
  • Of the 126 revised OELs, 96 (76%) were lowered, 19 (15%) were new limits, and 11 (9%) did not change
  • Limits for 58 substances (46.0% of the 126) were lowered to half or less of the original limit
  • The largest change was for vinyl cyclohexene dioxide, from 10 to 0.1 ppm
  • Geometric mean ratio of new to old limits was 0.297 for 100 substances with ppm values and 0.454 for seven substances with mg/m3 values
  • In 2009 mandatory permissible limits were introduced for 13 of the 126 amended limits
  • The permissible limit table lists asbestos at 0.1 f/cc
  • An employer exceeding a permissible limit without a reasonable excuse may be fined up to about US 45,000 dollars
  • The limit for metalworking fluids was lowered from 5 mg/m3 (mineral oil mist) and 10 mg/m3 (vegetable oil mist) as total particulate mass to 0.8 mg/m3 as extractable mass in 2008
  • Based on measured exposure trends, 0.8 mg/m3 extractable mass was considered the limit of technical feasibility for metalworking fluids
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the revision was meaningful for building experience in making an OEL-setting framework work, and that it was the most substantial change in the history of OEL amendment in Korea
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors note that new-to-old ratios can differ considerably depending on whether limits are expressed in ppm or mg/m3. They gave preference to ppm values.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Exposure, Threshold Limit Value (TLV).

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