NEWS ARCHIVES

• OARS WEEL documentation for Vinyltrimethoxysilane is available for public comment from September 18 through October 17, 2023. Please contact Dr. Patricia McGinnis at mcginnis@tera.org.

• The semi-annual OARS WEEL committee meeting will be held virtually on October 4, 2024.June 2024: OARS WEEL

• Documentation for Bis-(2-Chloroisopropyl) Ether (BCIPE) was published online in Toxicology and Industrial Health. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07482337241245745. For questions, please contact Dr. Patricia McGinnis at mcginnis@tera.org.

• June 2024: OARS WEEL documentation for HFO-153-10mczz-E has been submitted to Toxicology and Industrial Health for publication.

• June 2024: OARS WEEL documentation for Methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) has been submitted to Toxicology and Industrial Health for publication.

• March 2024: OARS WEEL documentation for HFO-153-10mczzE is available for public comment from March 30-May 15, 2024. To obtain a copy and submit comments please contact Dr. Patricia McGinnis at mcginnis@tera.org.

• December 2023: OARS WEEL documentation for Methyltrimethoxysilane is available for public comment. The comment period has been extended from September 23 through January 19, 2024. To obtain a copy and submit comments please contact Dr. Patricia McGinnis at mcginnis@tera.org.

• October 2023: The semi-annual OARS WEEL committee meeting will be held on October 26-27 in South San Francisco, CA. The session is in-person and also via Zoom.

• September 2023: OARS WEEL documentation for bis-(2-Chloroisopropyl) Ether is available for public comment from September 23 through October 22, 2023. To obtain a copy and submit comments please contact Dr. Patricia McGinnis at mcginnis@tera.org.

• September 2023: OARS WEEL documentation for Methyltrimethoxysilane is available for public comment from September 23 through October 22, 2023. To obtain a copy and submit comments please contact Dr. Patricia McGinnis at mcginnis@tera.org.

• April 2023: The “Workplace environmental exposure level guide (WEEL) for Triethylenetetramine (TETA)” was published in Toxicology an Industrial Hygiene 39(4): 183-187.

• March 2023: The semi-annual OARS WEEL committee meeting was held March 23-24 in Nashville, TN.

• March 2023: The poster, “The Impact of Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEELs)” was presented by TERA at the March 2023 Society of Toxicology Meeting. CLICK HERE to view full size image.

• March 2023: The WEEL Committee welcomes four new members:
Lisa Michelle Cooper, MS;
Theresa Repaso-Subang, RPBio, DABT, ERT, QPRA;
Bradley Thomson, MS;
Elizabeth Vancza, PhD, DABT

• March 2023: The semi-annual OARS WEEL committee meeting will be held on March 23, 1-4pm CDS and March 24, 10am-3pm CDS in Nashville, TN. The session is in-person and also via Zoom.

• February 2023: OARS WEEL documentation for Triethyleneamine (TETA) has been finalized, posted, and submitted to Toxicology and Industrial Health.

• October 2022: The “Workplace Environmental Exposure Level (WEEL) for Dimethyl Ether” was published in Toxicology and Industrial Health 38(11): 713-716.

• October 2022: The OARS WEEL committee meeting was held on October 27-28 in Tampa, FL.

• August 2022: The “Workplace Environmental Exposure Level (WEEL) for (E)-1,2-Difluoroethylene (HFO-1132E)” was published in Toxicology and Industrial Health 38(8): 435-443.

• July 2022: OARS WEEL documentation for Triethylenetetramine (TETA) is available for public comment on July 13, 2022 through August 26, 2022. To obtain a copy and submit comments, please contact Dr. Patricia McGinnis at mcginnis@tera.org.

• June 2022: OARS WEEL documentation for Dimethyl Ether is available for public comment on June 30, 2022 through August 13, 2022. To obtain a copy and submit comments, please contact Dr. Patricia McGinnis at mcginnis@tera.org.

• June 2022: The “Workplace environmental exposure level guide (WEEL) for n-Methyl-2- pyrrolidone (NMP)” was published in Toxicology and Industrial Health 38(6): 309-329.

• April 2022: OARS WEEL documentation for (E)-1,2-Difluoroethylene (HFO-1132E) has been finalized, posted, and submitted to Toxicology and Industrial Health.

• April 2022: The poster, The Impact of Workplace Environmental Exposure LevelsTM (WEEL), presented at the March 2022 Society of Toxicology meeting, Click Here to view the full size version.

• March 2022: The OARS WEEL Committee welcomes two new members:
Robert Mitkus, Ph.D., DABT, ERT
Chandrika Mougdal, MS

• OARS WEEL committee meeting was held on March 31st at 1-4pm PDT and April 1st 8am-12:30pm PDT in San Diego, CA. The session was also online via a ZOOM.

• OARS WEEL documentation for E 1,2-DiFluroethylene is available for public comment on December 22, 2021 through February 5, 2022. To obtain a copy and submit comments please contact Dr. Patricia McGinnis at mcginnis@tera.org.

• OARS WEEL Committee ZOOM meeting was held on October 28, 29 2021

• OARS WEEL for Methoxytridecafluoroheptene isomers (MPHE) has been published in Toxicology and Industrial Health, August 2021

• OARS WEEL for 1,1,1,2,3,4,4,5,5,5-Decafluoropentane (HFC-4310mee) has been published in Toxicology and Industrial Health, August 2021

• OARS WEEL documentation for Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5). The OARS WEEL for D5 has been posted.

• OARS WEEL documentation for Butyraldehyde and 2-Chloropropane. The OARS WEEL for Butyraldehyde and 2-Chloropropane has been posted.

• OARS WEEL documentation for Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4). The OARS WEEL for D4 has been posted.

• OARS WEEL documentation for 3-Nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-One (NTO) . The OARS WEEL for NTO has been posted.

• OARS WEEL documentation for cis-1,1,1,4,4,4-Hexafluoro-2-butene (HFO-1336mzz-Z). The OARS WEEL for HFO-1336mzz-Z has been posted.

• OARS WEEL documentation for 2,4-Dinitroanisole (DNAN). The OARS WEEL for DNAN has been posted.

• OARS WEEL documentation for Menthol. The OARS WEEL for Menthol has been posted.

• OARS WEEL documentation for HCFO-1233zd(E). The OARS WEEL for trans-1-Chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropylene (HCFO-1233zd(E)) has been posted.

• WEEL™ Values now on-line! The Occupational Alliance for Risk Science – Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEEL)™ are now available on-line from the OARS website, click here. An official press release was distributed on July 24, 2013.

• New Occupational Risk Assessment Course now available! TERA has developed an occupational risk assessment course on the development of occupational exposure limits (OELs). The course is a 4-day hand-on course offered thru OARS. Click here for more information.

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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.