Regulations and Guidelines for Toxic Exposures in the Workplace

Abstract

AbstractHistorically, occupational diseases often served as signs of exposure to toxic substances in the workplace, and legislation to regulate workplace exposure was slow to develop. While research and technology provided the rationale and methodologies to develop legislation, regulations, and guidelines reducing workplace hazards, social (e.g., working age of children or working hours) and catastrophes (e.g., mine explosions, asbestos disease, and epidemics) were often the main factors for laws/regulations. Political and civil rights movements also play a role in regulatory changes. In the early part of this century, regulations and guidelines to control toxic substances in workplaces primarily emerged out of social forces such as those introduced by labor unions and social reformers such as Alice Hamilton who was instrumental in putting workplace health and safety on the agenda for U.S. federal activities during the early 1900s. The first academic programs to support these efforts were instituted very early in 1900; the Department of Biology and Public Health at MIT offered a course in industrial hygiene in 1905 followed by the University of Pennsylvania, where a doctorate in public health was offered in 1906 with emphases on industrial hygiene. In 1919, the University of Cincinnati established a 1‐year Certificate of Public Health in Industrial Hygiene. The National Safety Council on Benzol was the first committee to establish current benzene exposure thresholds, and various private organizations (e.g., NSC, ANSI, ACGIH, API) provided exposure guidelines for various toxic substances. This chapter covers history of the development of regulations/guidelines to control exposure to toxic substances at workplaces.