OEL: BeST’s Comments on the beryllium OEL Recommendation from the SCOEL

The Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) is seeking public comments on its recently issued draft recommendation for an occupational exposure limit (OEL) for beryllium.   In the draft recommendation, SCOEL has proposed an OEL of 0.02 µg/m3 as an 8-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA) for “Inhalable” beryllium-containing particulate.  Comments are due to the SCOEL Secretariat by 29 November 2016.  Comments should be sent by mail to SCOEL Secretariat, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Plateau du Kirchberg, L-2920 Luxembourg or by email to empl-scoel@ec.europa.eu.

BeST believes the scientific evidence coupled with the socio-economic analysis being conducted for the Commission by Risk Policy Analysts (RPA) is supportive of an OEL of 0.6 µg/m3 (inhalable sampling method). Any value lower than 0.6 µg/m3 is not supportable by the preponderance of scientific evidence nor would a value below 0.6 µg/m3 be technically or economically feasible to the industries that rely on beryllium as a critical material.

Please download the full position here: