{"id":98257,"date":"2021-07-29T09:35:37","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T07:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/our-advice\/vlep-btex-valeurs-limites-exposition-professionnelle-contraignantes\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T09:31:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T07:31:03","slug":"vlep-btex-valeurs-limites-exposition-professionnelle-contraignantes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/our-tips\/vlep-btex-valeurs-limites-exposition-professionnelle-contraignantes\/","title":{"rendered":"BTEX: Binding Occupational Exposure Limits (BOELs)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BTEX composition and where to find it<\/h2>\n\n<p>BTEX are <strong>aromatic chemical compounds<\/strong> that include :<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>benzene ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>toluene ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ethylbenzene;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>xylenes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>These liquid organic compounds belong to the aromatic <strong>hydrocarbon family<\/strong>. BTEX are used in the manufacture of the following products and materials: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>plastic ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>synthetic rubber ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>fuels (unleaded gasoline) ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>food additives ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>medicines ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>fragrance ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>colorants ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>solvents ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>detergents ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>pesticides, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>BTEX are mainly used in the following sectors:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>petrochemical industry;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the cosmetics industry;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the pharmacochemical industry;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>car garages ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>gas stations, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">VLEP BTEX: 8-hour and short-term occupational limit value<\/h2>\n\n<p><strong>Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes<\/strong> are chemical compounds <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/conseils\/substances-cmr-risque-exposition-au-travail-quelle-reglementation-prevention\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/conseils\/substances-cmr-risque-exposition-au-travail-quelle-reglementation-prevention\/\">classified as CMR<\/a><\/strong> (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction). BTEX pose <strong>risks to workers&#8217; health and safety<\/strong>. Here is a list: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>highly flammable liquid and vapour ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>potentially fatal if swallowed or enters the respiratory tract ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>serious risks to organs through repeated or prolonged exposure ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>skin irritation ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>drowsiness or dizziness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Decree no. 2019-1487 of December 27, 2019 sets <strong>binding OELVs for BTEX<\/strong>. Occupational exposure limit values for these hydrocarbons are expressed : <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>by weight, i.e. in mg\/m\u00b3 ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>by volume, i.e. in ppm or parts per million for gases and vapors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Occupational exposure limit values for benzene<\/strong> VLEP-8h = 3.25 mg\/m\u00b3 or 1 ppm.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Occupational exposure limit values for toluene<\/strong> OEL-8h = 76.8 mg\/m\u00b3 or 20 ppm ;Short-term OEL (STEL 15 min) = 384 mg\/m\u00b3 or 100 ppm.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Occupational exposure limit values for ethylbenzene <\/strong>OEL-8h = 88.4 mg\/m\u00b3 or 20 ppm ;Short-term OEL (STEL 15 min) = 442 mg\/m\u00b3 or 100 ppm.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Occupational exposure limit values for xylenes<\/strong> OEL-8h = 221 mg\/m\u00b3 or 50 ppm ;Short-term OEL (STEL 15 min) = 442 mg\/m\u00b3 or 100 ppm.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">VLEP BTEX: restrictive occupational exposure limit values<\/h2>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/our-tips\/reglementation-vlep-evaluation-risque-chimique-lieu-de-travail\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/conseils\/reglementation-vlep-evaluation-risque-chimique-lieu-de-travail\/\">TLVs<\/a> for BTEX, like a large proportion of the mandatory TLVs, are set out in<strong>Article R. 4412-149 of the French Labor Code<\/strong>. These values represent thresholds for the <strong>average concentration of chemical compounds not to be exceeded<\/strong> in the workplace atmosphere.   <\/p>\n\n<p>As part of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/our-tips\/vlep-quels-risques-cas-de-non-respect-reglementation\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1816\">risk prevention<\/a><\/strong>companies are obliged to carry out <strong>annual VLEP checks via a COFRAC-accredited organization<\/strong>. When assessing employee exposure to pollutants in the workplace, VLEPs are used as <strong>reference values<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Also read: <a href=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/our-tips\/valeur-limite-exposition-professionnelle-ou-vlep\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1999\">What is an Occupational Exposure Limit or OEL?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What forms do BTEX come in and how can they be treated?<\/h2>\n\n<p>BTEX are generally in gaseous form and can be treated by activated carbon filtration.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-03627597 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/produits\/\">All our products<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes are chemical compounds classified as CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction). What are the TLVs for workers?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":98165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"BTEX and Occupational Exposure Limits","_seopress_titles_desc":"Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes are chemical compounds classified as CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction).","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-98257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-tips","tag-entete-small","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50","no-featured-image-padding","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98260,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98257\/revisions\/98260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}