Endotoxins - Health-based recommended occupational exposure limit

At the request of the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, the Dutch Expert Committee on Occupational Safety (DECOS), a committee of the Health Council of the Netherlands, recommends health-based occupational exposure limits for airborne substances to which people are exposed in the workplace. These recommendations serve as a basis in setting legally binding occupational exposure limits by the Minister. In this report, the Committee considers the implications of exposure to endotoxins and recommends a health-based occupational exposure limit for these substances.

This report has been compiled in collaboration with the Nordic Expert Group for criteria documentation of health risks from chemicals. It updates an earlier Health Council report, published in 1998, which set out the Council’s initial evaluation of the health implications of exposure to endotoxins. The present report consists of a brief summary of the earlier report, plus information gleaned from literature published since 1998. The committees’ conclusions reflect the content of scientific publications that have appeared prior to January 2010.

Committee

• G.J. Mulder, Emeritus Professor of toxicology, Leiden University, Leiden, chairman
• R.B. Beems, Toxicologic pathologist, formerly employed at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven
• P.J. Boogaard, Toxicologist, Shell International BV, The Hague
• J.J.A.M. Brokamp, Social and Economic Council, The Hague, advisor
• D.J.J. Heederik, Professor of health risk analysis, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht
• R. Houba, Occupational hygienist, Netherlands Expertise Centre for Occupational Respiratory Disorders (NECORD), Utrecht
• H. van Loveren, Professor of immunotoxicology, Maastricht University, Maastricht; National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven
• T.M. Pal, Occupational physician, Netherlands Center for Occupational Diseases, Amsterdam
• A.H. Piersma, Professor of reproductive toxicology, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven
• H.P.J. te Riele, Professor of molecular biology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam
• I.M.C.M. Rietjens, Professor of toxicology, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen
• H. Roelfzema, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, The Hague, advisor
• G.M.H. Swaen, Epidemiologist, Dow Benelux N.V., Terneuzen
• R.C.H. Vermeulen, Epidemiologist, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht
• R.A. Woutersen, Toxicologic pathologist, TNO Quality of Life, Zeist; Professor of translational toxicology, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen
• P.B. Wulp, Occupational physician, Labour Inspectorate, Groningen
• A.S.A.M van der Burght, Health Council of the Netherlands, The Hague, scientific secretary