29th Annual Scientific Meeting - April 11, 2008

NYNJ 29th Annual Scientific Meeting
Protecting Workers Against Chemical Exposures
April 11, 2008
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set only 16 chemical exposure limits since 1970, and only one apiece during the Clinton and Bush Administrations. A new administration will start next January. Should reducing chemical exposures be important on the agenda of the new administration? If so, are new Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL's) the regulatory vehicle to achieve this reduction? Some have argued that setting PEL's is too hard, too resource intensive and takes too long. How regulatory standards should be set is critical to the health and safety of the American workforce, and the public at large. The Annual Scientific Meeting will address the importance of chemical exposures in comparison to other occupational safety and health hazards, and describe several alternative schemes for protection, and assess the obstacles to setting PEL's in the current legislative and legal climate.