Record Display for the EPA National Library Catalog

RECORD NUMBER: 30 OF 1319

Main Title Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals. Volume 9.
CORP Author National Research Council, Washington, DC. Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology.; Department of Defense, Washington, DC.; Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.
Year Published 2009
Report Number ISBN 978-0-309-15944-9; W81K04-06-D0023; EP-W-09-007
Stock Number PB2011-102499
Additional Subjects Air pollution effects ; Environmental exposure ; Chemical industry ; Diasters ; Toxic substances ; Hazardous materials ; Health hazards ; Health effects ; Respiratory diseases ; Methyl isocyanate ; Industiral accidents ; Emergency planning ; Response ; Medical services
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
NTIS  PB2011-102499 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation 463p
Abstract
This report is the ninth volume in the series Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals. In the Bhopal disaster of 1984, approximately 2,000 residents living near a chemical plant were killed and 20,000 more suffered irreversible damage to their eyes and lungs following accidental release of methyl isocyanate. The toll was particularly high because the community had little idea what chemicals were being used at the plant, how dangerous they might be, or what steps to take in an emergency. This tragedy served to focus international attention on the need for governments to identify hazardous substances and to assist local communities in planning how to deal with emergency exposures. In the United States, the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 required that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identify extremely hazardous substances (EHSs) and, in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation, assist local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) by providing guidance for conducting health hazard assessments for the development of emergency response plans for sites where EHSs are produced, stored, transported, or used. SARA also required that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) determine whether chemical substances identified at hazardous waste sites or in the environment present a public health concern. As a first step in assisting the LEPCs, EPA identified approximately 400 EHSs largely on the basis of their immediately dangerous to life and health values, developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety or Health. Although several public and private groups, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, have established exposure limits for some substances and some exposures (e.g., workplace or ambient air quality), these limits are not easily or directly translated into emergency exposure limits for exposures at high levels but of short duration, usually less than 1 hour, and only once in a lifetime for the general population, which includes infants (from birth to 3 years of age), children, the elderly, and persons with diseases, such as asthma or heart disease.