Occupational Exposure Limits in China - GBZ 2.1-2007 - Occupational exposure limits for hazardous agents in the workplace

An occupational exposure limit is an upper limit on the acceptable concentration of a hazardous substance in workplace air for a particular material or class of materials.
In China, Occupational Exposure Limits(OELs) for hazardous chemicals is set by GBZ 2.1-2007 - Occupational exposure limits for hazardous agents in the workplace. The standard was revised by the Ministry of Health in 2007 and implemented from 1 Nov 2007.
There are three types of OELs for hazardous chemicals in China:

• Maximum allowable concentration (MAC); other countries might call it the ceiling value.
• Permissble concentration-time weighed average(PC-TWA): the maximum average concentration of a chemical in air for a normal 8-hour working day and 40-hour week;
• Permissble concentration-short term exposure limit(PC-STEL): the maximum average concentration to which workers can be exposed for a short period (usually 15 minutes);

The standard has set occupational exposure limits for 339 hazardous chemicals, 47 kinds of dust and 2 types of bacteria. The standard methods of monitoring the concentration of hazardous chemicals in workplace are defined in national standards GBZ 159-2004 and GBZ/T 160-2004.

Related Occupational Exposure Limits(OELs)

Types of Occupational Exposure Limits

OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs)

California OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs)

ACGIH Threshold Limit Values (TLVs)

NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limits (RELs)

AIHA Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEELs)

Occupational Exposure Limits in Europe

GESTIS: International Occupational Exposure Limit Database