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About Us

TERA was founded on the belief that an independent non-profit organization can provide a unique function to protect human health by conducting scientific research and development on risk issues in a transparent and collaborative fashion and communicating the results widely.  Our Mission Who We Are Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) a non-profit and tax-exempt organization organized for scientific research, and educational purposes has provided sponsors with independent, transparent science since 1995. TERA solves human health risk challenges for diverse government and private sponsors through research and collaboration that emphasizes partnership building across scientific expertise and multiple perspectives to ensure the use of the best science. These strengths are the basis for TERA’s research and development of independent and science-driven analyses for risk assessment. A world leader in independent scientific peer review, TERA provides in-person panel meetings, letter reviews, webcasts and webinars, in-house technical reviews, and workshops. Our mission is to support the protection of public health by developing environmental and public health research, review, and communication toxicology and risk assessment values and analyses; improving risk methods through applied research; and, educating risk assessors, and the public on environmental and public health issues, toxicology and risk assessment issues. Core Principles and Values Our Mission Ethical and scientific standards are clearly communicated to all staff as part of both formal and informal training.

Honesty and Integrity - we operate at the highest level of ethical and scientific standards, fully communicating issues and uncertainties

Independence - we approach our work with an open mind and objectivity, without regard to sponsor or stakeholder interests

Transparency - we share our work broadly to maximize benefit to public health

Collaboration - we use collaboration as a fundamental and preferred approach to technical problem resolution

Ethical and scientific standards are clearly communicated to all staff as part of both formal and informal training.

These core principles guide day-to-day TERA operations - from our consideration of new projects and sponsors, to our scientific evaluations and communication of results. A number of measures insure our work is based upon our principles.
 Core Principles
and Values Our History Founded in 1995 by Dr. Michael Dourson, a board-certified toxicologist with 15 years of experience at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), TERA is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the application of sound science to risk assessment.

Organized under Ohio law and granted tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, TERA facilitates partnerships between environmental, industry, and government groups. As an independent non-profit, TERA supports the protection of public health by providing legislators, risk managers, and citizens with the risk and toxicological information they need to make informed decisions about chemicals. HOME Our History

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  • 1250 Ohio Pike, Suite 197, Cincinnati Ohio 45102
  • 513.488.1990
  • TERA@TERA.ORG

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WEEL OEL

Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) are designed to safeguard the health of healthy workers during their careers. These limits are based on the assumption of repeated daily exposure throughout a working lifetime, typically averaged over an 8-hour workday. Their purpose is to prevent both immediate (acute) and long-term (chronic) health issues arising from workplace exposures. It’s important to note that OELs are not intended for the general public, which includes vulnerable groups like infants, the elderly, and those with pre-existing health conditions.

Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEELs) are health-based guidelines for chemical hazards in the workplace. These values represent air concentrations believed to protect the majority of workers from negative health effects resulting from occupational chemical exposure.

The WEEL Process
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The development of new or revision of existing WEELs is typically assigned to voluntarily designated subcommittees. A subcommittee usually comprises 3 – 4 members from the WEEL Committee. New WEELs are developed using the OARS-WEEL administrative standard operating procedure (SOP), while existing WEELs are usually revised every 10 years, unless the availability of significant new data which may impact the existing WEEL value compels the committee to make a revision sooner. The OARS-WEEL SOP contains procedures and guidelines governing conflicts of interest, draft document preparation, literature searches, draft document review, balloting process, post-ballot WEEL documentation quality assurance scientific review, and publication.

Once a subcommittee has prepared a draft WEEL document, a review of the draft is scheduled for the next available Committee meeting. The WEEL Committee members are expected to have reviewed all such drafts prior to the meeting. If no major changes are necessary to a draft, the attending Committee membership may, by a simple majority, approve the WEEL for balloting. Alternatively, the Committee may direct the subcommittee to revise the WEEL and present it for further discussion at a future meeting. If a ballot is not approved by a two-thirds majority of non-abstaining Committee members, it is discussed at the next Committee meeting to determine the appropriate course of action. Once the WEEL is approved by a two-thirds majority of non-abstaining Committee members, copies of ballot comments are forwarded to the designated subcommittee and all substantive comments must be addressed in the final draft. If resolution of a substantive comment results in a change to the WEEL value or a change in the basis for the value, the draft must be re-balloted.

Once all comments have been addressed on a successfully balloted draft, document formatting and editorial review are performed by TERA, before the draft WEEL document is made available for public comment (usually for a period of 30 days but may be extended if the need arises). After the public comment period has elapsed, comments are addressed by the subcommittee responsible for that specific draft, after which the WEEL documentation is submitted to Toxicology and Industrial Health (TIH), a peer-reviewed medical journal that covers research in the fields of occupational health and toxicology, for publication. A thorough review of the galley proof by the scientific content quality coordinator at TERA, and proofreaders and editors at TIH is the penultimate step before eventual publication of the WEEL documentation.

The WEEL Committee

The OARS-WEEL Committee is composed of volunteer experts specializing in the scientific determination of occupational exposure levels. This committee actively seeks a balanced representation of professionals from toxicology and industrial hygiene, drawing upon a diverse range of experience from industry, government, academia, and consulting. Importantly, each member contributes to the Committee based on their individual expertise and not as an official representative of their respective employer, organization, or agency.