The primary purpose of the European Union REACH (registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals) Regulation is the protection of human health and the environment. An important tool in that process is the development of an exposure scenario (ES) for the safe use of chemicals. This ES includes a description of use conditions and risk management measures that must be used to control the risk of exposure to the chemical. To accomplish this, both risk and exposure must be quantified. Measuring and controlling exposures are key aspects of industrial hygiene and, while these skills will be essential to the development of the ES, the approach is different from traditional industrial hygiene. The full ES addresses physical hazards and environmental impacts, along with human health, but this roundtable discussion will focus solely on human health. The various aspects of developing the ES under REACH will be discussed, including the hazard assessment, developing DNEL (derived no effect levels), exposure modeling, and selecting risk management measures, along with the actual ES process and the use and evaluation of generic ES.
• REACH - An Overview of the Chemical Safety Assessment and the Role of the Industrial Hygienist. P. Harper, ENVIRON International Corp., Phoenix, AZ.
• The Development and Application of Derived No Effect Levels (DNELs). R. Roy, 3M, St. Paul, MN.
• Exposure Estimation Methods for Developing Occupational Exposure Scenarios. L.D. Dell, ENVIRON International Corp., Amherst, MA.
• Exposure Estimation Methods for Developing Occupational Exposure Scenarios - How Useful Are Models? C. Alfonso, 3M, St. Paul, MN.
• REACH-Understanding Risk Management Measures. A. Ansari, CGI Environmental Solution Group, Fairfax, VA.
• The Authoring and Application of Exposure Scenario (ES). R. Skoglund, 3M, St. Paul, MN.
• Developing Exposure Scenarios - Is There a Simple Way? J. Brown, Eastman Chemical, Kingsport, TN.