Liang You-xin, Su Zhi, Wu Wei-ai, Lu Bo-qin, Fu Wei-zu, Yang Lei, Gu Jin-yu
Fudan University, School of Public Health, 138 Yixueyuan Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2003 Oct;38(2):112-23. doi: 10.1016/s0273-2300(03)00077-1.
Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are well established in many countries, which serve occupational professionals as benchmarks of industrial hygiene practice at workplaces worldwide. Starting in the mid-1950s, the central government of China began promulgating OELs for hazardous substances at workplaces. This paper discusses the historical basis, philosophical principles and schematic protocols of developing and setting OELs in China. The underlying principles include: (1) protection of human health being the first and the most important criterion; (2) the use of quantitative epidemiological studies in humans being given top priority; (3) integration and full use of all information sources, including animal experimental data for new chemicals or chemicals with new toxicity concerns; (4) considerations of socioeconomic and technological feasibilities in the country; and (5) amending existing standards based on new evidence. The strategy of the World Health Organization's "Two-step Procedure" is applied to convert health-based recommendations to law-based operational OELs, with considerations for national technological and socioeconomic conditions and priorities. As a result of the recent passage of the new law Occupational Diseases Prevention and Control Act of the People's Republic of China (ODPCAct), an official document Occupational Exposure Limits for Hazardous Agents in the Workplace containing a comprehensive list of new and amended OELs has been issued, which has now become one of the most essential regulations affiliated with the ODPCAct. This paper provides a brief summary of the salient features of the new law ODPCAct and the principles and processes of developing or amending OELs. This paper also discusses the challenges that lie ahead in enforcing the new regulations in China.
职业接触限值（OELs）在许多国家已得到广泛确立，为职业健康专业人员提供了全球工作场所工业卫生实践的基准。从20世纪50年代中期开始，中国中央政府就开始颁布工作场所有害物质的职业接触限值。本文探讨了中国制定和设定职业接触限值的历史依据、指导原则和方案流程。其基本原则包括：（1）保护人类健康是首要且最重要的标准；（2）优先采用人体定量流行病学研究；（3）整合并充分利用所有信息来源，包括针对新化学品或具有新毒性问题化学品的动物实验数据；（4）考虑国家的社会经济和技术可行性；（5）根据新证据修订现有标准。应用世界卫生组织的“两步法”策略，将基于健康的建议转化为基于法律的操作性职业接触限值，并考虑国家的技术和社会经济条件及优先事项。由于最近通过了新的《中华人民共和国职业病防治法》，已发布了一份官方文件《工作场所有害因素职业接触限值》，其中包含新的和修订后的职业接触限值综合清单，该清单现已成为与《职业病防治法》相关的最重要法规之一。本文简要总结了新的《职业病防治法》的显著特点以及制定或修订职业接触限值的原则和流程。本文还讨论了在中国执行新法规面临的挑战。
