The British Occupational Hygiene Society has issued information to members on how to deal with dusts without an exposure limit or hazard classification, in the context of the British COSHH regulations. In the past, such dusts have often been ignored if time-weighted exposures were less than 10 mg/m3 inhalable and 4 mg/m3 respirable. The note refers to recent research on loss of lung function at lower exposures, and to the 4000 deaths a year in Britain from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which may be related to occupational exposures. Other organizations have recommended tighter standards, including a German MAK value for ‘Granular biopersistent dusts’. The BOHS note says that ‘it would be prudent to consider the recent research on health effects in judging whether control is adequate.’ The BOHS note can be downloaded from http://www.bohs.org/library/technical-publications/ It is a result of a session at the 2012 BOHS conference, whose presentations are at http://www.bohs.org/oh2012/presentations/Source: Dr. Trevor Ogden
