Workers’ health and benzene levels in air are monitored at production sites. Air monitoring is a legal requirement for benzene. Workplace exposures to chemicals are governed by their Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL). This is the maximum air concentration allowable in the workplace that regulators have reason to believe does not cause health effects in workers over a working lifetime daily exposure. National and international standards exist which limit this exposure by imposing strict OELs; the European Commission imposes a limit of 1 ppm (1 part per million, in milligrams benzene per cubic meter air) in the workplace. To illustrate what is meant by 1 ppm, one should imagine a fifth of a drop of water in a 10-liter bucket of water. Industry standards are invariably more stringent than this, and include occupational monitoring programmes to confirm that workplace controls and practices are as safe as possible.


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