At its November 2020 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors (BOD) approved the adoption of the 2016, 2017, and 2018 new and revised American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Values (ACGIH TLVs) for the following select chemical substances:

• n-Butyl acetate;
• sec-Butyl acetate;
• tert-Butyl acetate;
• Dimethylacetamide (also known as N,N-dimethylacetamide);
• Dimethylformamide;
• Ethyl cyanoacrylate;
• Isobutyl acetate;
• Methyl 2-cyanoacrylate;
• Propyl acetate isomers:
  • Isopropyl acetate;
  • n-Propyl acetate;
• Stearates; and
• Zinc stearate.

Effective January 4, 2021, these substances will be removed from the Table of Exposure Limits for Excluded Substances in Policy R5.48-1 of the Prevention Manual, and the ACGIH TLVs will be assigned as B.C. exposure limits:

Due to sampling issues, the BOD decided to not adopt the new or revised ACGIH TLVs for the following substances:

• Aldicarb;
• Allyl methacrylate;
• Bendiocarb;
• tert-Butyl hydroperoxide;
• Carfentrazone-ethyl;
• β-Chloroprene;
• Fludioxonil;
• Paraquat, as the cation, Inhalable;
• Thioglycolic acid; and
• Thioglycolic acid and salts

For these substances, the existing exposure limits will be maintained on the Table of Exposure Limits for Excluded Substances in Policy R5.48-1 of the Prevention Manual.

For Boron trifluoride ethers, the BOD adopted the ACGIH TLV of 0.1 ppm (8-hour exposure limit), but did not adopt the ACGIH TLV of 0.7 ppm (ceiling limit) as a B.C. exposure limit due to sampling issues.

For Cyanoacrylates, Ethyl and Methyl, the BOD adopted the ACGIH TLV of 0.2 ppm (8-hour exposure limit), but did not adopt the ACGIH TLV of 1 ppm (ceiling limit) as a B.C. exposure limit due to sampling issues. The adopted B.C. exposure limit for Cyanoacrylates, Ethyl and Methyl will supplant the existing BC ELs for Ethyl cyanoacrylate and Methyl 2-cyanoacrylate (as noted above).

Effective January 4, 2021, Boron trifluoride ethers and Cyanoacrylates, Ethyl and Methyl will be reflected in the Table of Exposure Limits for Excluded Substances in Policy R5.48-1 of the Prevention Manual as B.C. exposure limits as follows:

WorkSafeBC will continue to monitor the availability of sampling methods for all of these substances, as well as to work on ongoing initiatives to develop, validate, and implement sampling methods.