A note on the assessment of exposure using one-sided tolerance limits.

Conceptual problems with OSHA's use of an absolute standard have led to alternative methods of assessing exposures to toxic materials in the workplace. One of these methods employs a one-sided tolerance limit. This statistical approach is explored from three points of view--identifiability, sampling strategies and statistical power. In general, assessing risk in the work environment with tolerance limits is found to give inadequate answers in several important respects.