Comments open on WES for airborne contaminants Release 10

Safe Work Australia’s (SWA) evaluation of workplace exposure standards for airborne contaminants continues with Release 10 (diesel engine emissions, hydrogen cyanide and others) now open for public comment. Release 10 includes chemicals that were deferred from previous releases, as well as chemicals that do not currently have an Australian workplace exposure standard. The recommended workplace exposure standards are health-based recommendations made by consultants using the methodology developed by SWA, and have been independently peer reviewed. Chemicals that do not currently have an Australian workplace exposure standard include diesel engine emissions, flour dust (cereal), gallium arsenide, hard metals (containing cobalt and tungsten carbide), Hexahydrophthalic anhydride, Hydroxyacetic acid butyl ester and Hydroxypropyl acrylate. Comments opened on 17 January 2020 and will close on 14 February 2020.

SWA is evaluating workplace exposure standards for airborne contaminants to ensure they are based on the highest quality evidence and supported by scientific research. SWA is open to feedback on the draft evaluation reports and recommendations and is seeking comments of a technical nature about the toxicological information and data that the recommended workplace exposure standard is based on, and the measurement and analysis information provided. The feedback received will be considered when final recommendations are made for the workplace exposure standards. The draft evaluation reports and recommendations for the remaining chemicals will be released in 2020.

Each report includes a recommended workplace exposure standard value, information about the basis of the recommendation, and a summary of the data used to make the recommendation. The feedback will help ensure the workplace exposure standards meet the needs of contemporary Australian workplaces. Those with an interest in workplace exposure standards should subscribe to the ‘chemical exposure standards’ mailing list to stay informed about the review and release dates. The next release (Release 11 — 5-Methylheptan-3-one to osmium tetroxide) is scheduled to open for comment on 31 January 2020 (until 28 February 2020). For more information on other chemicals and their release dates, refer to the release schedule.

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