Threshold Limit Values

● Threshold Limit Values are established for

airborne concentrations of many chemical
compounds.
● TLVs are airborne concentrations of
substances that are believed to represent
conditions under which nearly all workers
may be repeatedly exposed day after day
without adverse effect.
•Control of work environment is based on the
assumption that for each substance there is some
safe or tolerable level of exposure below which no
significant adverse effect occur. These tolerable
levels are called Threshold Limit Values.

•TLVs are based on available information from

industrial experience, from experimental human
and animal studies, and when possible from the
combination of the three.
Three categories of TLVs
1. Threshold Limit Value-Time-Weighted
Average (TLV-TWA)
This is the Time-Weighted Average
concentration for a normal 8 hours
workday or 40 hours workweek to which
nearly all workers are exposed day after
day without adverse effect.
2. Threshold Limit Value-Short-Term
Exposure Limit (TLV-STEL)
This is the maximum concentration to which workers can
be exposed for a period of up to 15 minutes continuously
without suffering from any of the following:
· Irritation
· Chronic or irreversible tissue damage
· Narcosis of sufficient degree to increase the likelihood
of accidental injury, impair self-rescue, or materially
reduce work efficiency and provided that the daily TLV-
TWA is not exceeded.
A STEL is a 15 minutes TWA exposure that
should not be exceeded at any time during a work
day, even if the 8-hr TWA is within the TLV.
Exposures at the STEL should not be longer than
15 min and should not be repeated more than four
times daily. There should be at least 60 min
between successive exposures at the STEL.
3. Threshold Limit Value-Ceiling (TLV-C)
This is the concentration that should not be
exceeded during any part of the working
exposure.