Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
|
Agency | Focus | Level | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists | Air: workplace | 10 µg/m3* | Advisory; TLV/TWA+ |
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health | Air: workplace | 2 µg/m3 | Advisory; 15-minute ceiling limit |
Occupational Safety and Health Administration | Air: workplace | 10 µg/m3 | Regulation; PEL++over 8-hour day |
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | Air: environment | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Water | 10 ppb | Regulation; maximum contaminant level in drinking water | |
Food and Drug Administration | Food | 0.5-2 ppm | Regulation; applies to animals treated with veterinary drugs |
*µg/m3: micrograms per cubic meter; ppb: parts per billion; ppm: parts per million. +TLV/TWA (threshold limit value/time-weighted average): time-weighted average concentration for a normal 8-hour workday or 40-hour workweek to which nearly all workers may be repeatedly exposed. ++PEL (permissible exposure limit): highest level averaged, over an 8-hour workday, to which a worker may be exposed. |
Arsenic is listed by EPA, under authorization of the Clean Air Act, as a hazardous air pollutant (defined as a substance that may cause an increased mortality or serious illness in humans after significant exposure). In 1986, EPA promulgated the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for three stationary source categories known to emit inorganic arsenic: primary copper smelters, glass-manufacturing plants, and arsenic plants. However, there is no ambient air standard for arsenic.
The EPA Office of Drinking Water has set a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for arsenic in drinking water of 10 ppb. The World Health Organization recommends a provisional drinking water guideline of 10 ppb.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established tolerance levels for arsenic in by-products of animals treated with veterinary drugs. These permissible levels range from 0.5 ppm in eggs and uncooked edible tissues of chickens and turkeys to 2 ppm in certain uncooked edible by-products of swine.
In 1989, EPA began to phase out household ant poisons containing sodium arsenate because of the danger of ingestion by small children. The EPA Office of Pesticide Programs has restricted the use of inorganic arsenic to pressure-treated wood. It has also cancelled all registered uses of inorganic arsenic for nonwood preservative purposes.