Binding occupational exposure limit values (OELs) of the European Commission

Binding assessment criteria for concentrations of hazardous substances in the air are enacted in Germany by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, BMAS) on the basis of a proposal from the German Committee on Hazardous Substances (Ausschuss für Gefahrstoffe, AGS). However, the European Union also specifies limit values for inhalation exposure at workplaces. The limit values for air concentrations shown in the tables are Binding Occupational Exposure Limits Values (BOELV) of the EU. They must be adopted by the Member States as minimum standards, and in Germany, they have been transposed into national law through Section 7 (11) of the German Hazardous Substances Ordinance (GefStoffV). These limit values are not occupational exposure limits (OELs) within the meaning of Section 2 (8) of the German Hazardous Substances Ordinance, which identify the concentrations at which substances are generally not expected to induce adverse acute or chronic effects on health. When defining a BOELV, the EU also takes socio-economic factors into account.

The binding assessment standards of the German Committee on Hazardous Substances (AGS) are defined on the basis of purely scientific, health-based or risk-based criteria and without consideration of socio-economic factors. In general, this also applies to the implementation of BOELVs in national law. Accordingly, BOELVs are adopted as binding assessment standards in various ways: Either as health-based occupational exposure limits in the Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances (TRGS) 900 or as risk-based concentrations (acceptable/tolerable concentration) in TRGS 910. For most EU BOELVs, national binding standards were already or are now in place at the same level or a lower level than the EU BOELVs. There are only a few instances in which existing occupational exposure limits (e.g. propylene oxide) had to/will have to be lowered to the EU BOELV. In order to comply with the EU BOELVs, which have been transposed into national law in the form of acceptable and tolerable concentrations, the requirements of TRGS 910 must be implemented.

Lead, wood dust and o-toluidine are the only hazardous substances for which there are currently no science-based proposals for a binding assessment standard from the German Committee on Hazardous Substances (AGS). The occupational exposure limits listed in TRGS 900 for these substances result exclusively from the formal implementation in national law. Use of o-toluidine is only permitted in closed systems (German Hazardous Substances Ordinance Annex II, No. 6), as, even with exposure levels of below 0.5 mg/m3, there is a risk of occupational cancer.

Substances with EU binding occupational exposure limit values (as of July 2022):

Substance
CAS number
EU directive EU limit value National assessment criteria Source
Acrylamide
79-06-1
2004/37/EC
2017/2398
0.1 mg/m3 AC: 0.07 mg/m3
TC: 0.15 mg/m3
TRGS 910
Acrylonitrile
107-13-1
2004/37/EG
2022/431
1 mg/m3 AC: 0.26 mg/m3
TC: 2.6 mg/m3
TRGS 910
Arsenic acid and its salts, as well as inorganic arsenic compounds 2004/37/EC
2019/983
0.01 mg/m3 (IF) AC: 0.00083 mg/m3 (IF)
TC: 0.0083 mg/m3 (IF)
TRGS 910
Asbestos 2009/148/EC 100.000 F/m3 AC: 10000 F/m3
TC: 100000 F/m3
TRGS 517, 519, 910
Benzene
71-43-2
2004/37/EC
2022/431
0.66 mg/m3 AC: 0.2 mg/m3
TC: 1.9 mg/m3
TRGS 910
Beryllium and inorganic beryllium compounds 2004/37/EC
2019/983
0.0002 mg/m3 (IF) AGW: 0.00006 mg/m3 (RF)
0.00014 mg/m3 (IF)
TRGS 900
Bisphenol A: 4,4'-propane-2,2-diyldiphenol
80-05-7
2004/37/EG 2022/431 2 mg/m3 (IF) AGW: 2 mg/m3 (IF) TRGS 900
Bromoethylene (vinyl bromide)
593-60-2
2004/37/EC
2017/2398
4.4 mg/m3 AGW: 4.4 mg/m3 TRGS 900
1,3-Butadiene
106-99-0
2004/37/EC
2017/2398
2.2 mg/m3 AC: 0.5 mg/m3
TC: 5 mg/m3
TRGS 910
Cadmium and its inorganic compounds 2004/37/EC
2019/983
0.001 mg/m3 (IF) AC: 0.00016 mg/m3 (RF)
TC: 0.001 mg/m3 (IF)
TRGS 910
Carbon monoxide
630-08-0
2004/37/EG
2022/431
23 mg/m3 AGW: 23 mg/m3 TRGS 900
Chromium (VI) compounds 2004/37/EC
2017/2398
0.005 mg/m3
(as chromium)
0.001 mg/m3 (IF) TRGS 910
Diesel engine exhaust emissions 2004/37/EC
2019/130
0.05 mg/m3 (EC) AGW: 0.05 mg/m3(EC) TRGS 900
N,N-Dimethylacetamide
127-19-5
2004/37/EG
2022/431
36 mg/m3 AGW: 18 mg/m3 TRGS 900
N,N-Dimethylformamide
68-12-2
2004/37/EG
2022/431
15 mg/m3 AGW: 15 mg/m3 TRGS 900
Epichlorohydrine
106-89-8
2004/37/EC
2019/130
1.9 mg/m3 AC: 1.9 mg/m3
TC: 8 mg/m3
TRGS 910
1,2-Epoxypropane (propylene oxide)
75-56-9
2004/37/EC
2017/2398
2.4 mg/m3 AGW: 2.4 mg/m3 TRGS 900
2-Ethoxyethanol
110-80-5
2004/37/EG
2022/431
8 mg/m3 AGW: 7.6 mg/m3 TRGS 900
2-Ethoxyethyl acetate
111-15-9
2004/37/EG
2022/431
11 mg/m3 AGW: 10.8 mg/m3 TRGS 900
Ethylene dibromide
106-93-4
2004/37/EC
2019/130
0.8 mg/m3 AK: 0,04 mg/m3
TK: 0,4 mg/m3
TRGS 910
Ethylene dichloride
107-06-2
2004/37/EC
2019/130
8.2 mg/m3 AC: 0.8 mg/m3
TC: 4 mg/m3
TRGS 910
Ethylene oxide
75-21-8
2004/37/EC
2017/2398
1.8 mg/m3 AC: 0.2 mg/m3
TC: 2 mg/m3
TRGS 910
Formaldehyde
50-00-0
2004/37/EC
2019/983
0.37 mg/m3 AGW: 0.37 mg/m3 TRGS 900
Hardwood dusts 2004/37/EC
2017/2398
2 mg/m3 (IF) 2 mg/m3 (IF)
TRGS 553
Hydrazine
302-01-2
2004/37/EC
2017/2398
0.013 mg/m3 AC: 2.2 µg/m3
TC: 22 µg/m3
TRGS 910
Lead and inorganic lead compounds 2004/37/EG
2022/431
0.15 mg/m3 TRGS 505
Mercury and divalent anorganic mercury compounds including mercury oxide and mercury chloride (measured as mercury) 2004/37/EG
2022/431
0.02 mg/m3 AGW: 0.02 mg/m3 TRGS 900
2-Methoxyethanol
109-86-4
2004/37/EG
2022/431
1 ppm AGW: 3.2 mg/m3 (1 ppm) TRGS 900
2-Methoxyethyl acetate
110-49-6
2004/37/EG
2022/431
1 ppm AGW: 9.9 mg/m3 (1 ppm) TRGS 900
4,4′-Methylene-bis(2-chloroaniline)
101-14-4
2004/37/EC
2019/983
0.01 mg/m3 AC: 10 μg/m3 (IF)
TC: 410 μg/m3(IF)
4,4′-Methylenedianiline
101-77-9
2004/37/EC
2019/130
0.08 mg/m3 AC: 0.07 mg/m3
TC: 0.7 mg/m3
TRGS 910
N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone
872-50-4
2004/37/EG
2022/431
40 mg/m3 AGW: 40 mg/m3 TRGS 900
Nickel compounds 2004/37/EG
2022/431
0.01 mg/m3 (RF)


0,05 mg/m3 (IF)
AC: 0,006 mg/m3 (RF)
TC: 0.006 mg/m3 (RF)

AGW: 0.03 mg/m3 (IF)
TRGS 910


TGRS 900
Nitrobenzene
98-95-3
2004/37/EG
2022/431
1 mg/m3 AGW: 0.51 mg/m3 TRGS 900
2-Nitropropane
79-46-9
2004/37/EC
2017/2398
18 mg/m3 AC: 0.18 mg/m3
TC: 1.8 mg/m3
TRGS 910
Refractory ceramic fibres 2004/37/EC
2017/2398
0.3 F/ml AC: 0.01 F/ml
TC: 0.1 F/ml
Aluminium silicate fibres
TRGS 910
Respirable Crystalline silica dust 2004/37/EC
2017/2398
0.1 mg/m3 0.05 mg/m3 TRGS 559
o-Toluidine
95-53-4
2004/37/EC
2017/2398
0.5 mg/m3 Manufacture/use only in enclosed systems

AGW: 0.5 mg/m3
GefStoffV, Annex II (6)


TRGS 900
Trichloroethylene
79-01-6
2004/37/EC
2019/130
54.7 mg/m3 AC: 33 mg/m3
TC: 33 mg/m3
TRGS 910
Vinyl chloride
75-01-4
2004/37/EC
2017/2398
2.6 mg/m3 AGW: 2.6 mg/m3 TRGS 900

AC = acceptable concentration
TC = tolerable concentration
EC = elemental carbon
RF = respirable fraction
IF = inhalable fraction
F = fibres
AGW = occupational exposure limit (GefStoffV Section 2 (8))

Contact:

Dr Marco Steinhausen

Division 1: Information technology, Risk management

Tel: +49 30 13001-3150
Fax: +49 30 13001-38001