Approach to setting occupational exposure limits for sensory irritants in The Netherlands

This article describes how scientists in the Netherlands set occupational exposure limits (OELs) for sensory irritants. When they tackle this issue, a number of key questions need to be answered. For example, did the studies indeed measure sensory irritation and not cytotoxicity? When the irritant is an odorant, can interference of olfactory stimulation be excluded? In the case of subjective measurements, can psychological irritation be excluded? When adaptation is an issue, did the studies indeed measure adaptation and not habituation? When OELs are established in the Netherlands, each of these issues is carefully addressed before a value is suggested. When setting an OEL in the Netherlands, human data carry more weight than animal data of comparable quality. As in the United States, documentation for the recommended OEL is written and a discussion of all available relevant and reliable data culminating in the selection of the key study for deriving the health-based recommended occupational exposure limit is provided. Special effort is dedicated to reconciling differences between the animal and human data. If the toxicological database is considered to be inadequate, the committee acknowledges this limitation and will not recommend a limit value due to insufficient data.