Industrial Toxicology in the Soviet Union— heoretical and Applied

Assessment of concentration peaks in setting exposure limits for air contaminants at workplaces, with special emphasis on narcotic and irritative gases and vapors.

“…In a comparison of limits in 1973 it was found that 88 070 of the Russian limits was lower than the corresponding values of the ACGIH (22). The explanation for this difference is that the Russian limits are based on other criteria (20,22,29), including sensitive neurophysiological test parameters and biochemical changes during examinations of experimental human subjects, as well as on results from animal experiments. Holmberg & Winell (20) found that the Russian limits are therefore lower than the corresponding American values from the ACGIH, especially in the case of organic solvents, while on the other hand the limits for irritant and lung-toxic gases and vapors, along with metals and metallic salts, are comparable in the two countries.…”

“…For instance there is nothing to suggest that the TL V committee of the ACGIH has consciously made use of the vapor pressures of the substances in order to gauge the limit values for irritant or narcotic substances. On the contrary, HE Stokinger, the committee's long-time chairman, has stated that the use of vapor pressure in calculating "MAC values" is wholly foreign to the ACGIH and is, in their view, incorrect (29).…”

“…Maximal allowable concentrations were published as early as 1922 for a number of gaseous substances, eg, hydrogen chloride and oxides of nitrogen (35). A number of Russian authors have sought to calculate limit values by using mathematical models making allowance not only for toxicologic data, but also for chemical and physical constants such as boiling point, relative molecular mass, and density (6,24,25,29). The Russian limits are keyed to a measuring period not exceeding 30 min (35,40).…”

Occupational health standards. An international comparison.

“…A common criterion behind the MPCs are changes in the nervous response as seen in experimental animals after exposure to toxic substances (24,31,55). Changes in stress reactions, conditioned reflexes, or in the function of the brain cortex have been looked for, in the last mentioned case by electroencephalographic methods (43).…”

“…In the third step accumulation (26) and other chronic effects of the substance are studied with experimental animals. The experimental data are treated according to certain formal calculations, including different toxicological indices (31,63), and ultimately evolve into occupational standards. These values are adjusted according to a fourth step, which takes place as soon as a substance has been in practical use for some time.…”