{"id":98511,"date":"2021-07-28T09:15:37","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T07:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/our-advice\/valeurs-limites-d-exposition-professionnelle-styrene\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T09:43:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T07:43:12","slug":"valeurs-limites-d-exposition-professionnelle-styrene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/our-tips\/valeurs-limites-d-exposition-professionnelle-styrene\/","title":{"rendered":"Binding Occupational Exposure Limits and styrene"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"le-styrene-sous-tout-ses-sens\">Styrene in all its senses<\/h2>\n\n<p>Styrene is a <strong>toxic <\/strong>, flammable <strong>chemical compound <\/strong> <strong>produced from petroleum<\/strong>. Styrene is also known by these synonyms: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>cinnamene ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ethenyl benzene ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>phenyl ethylene ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>styrene ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>styrene monomer ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>vinyl benzene.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>The main<strong> products and composite materials containing styrene<\/strong> are the following:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>polystyrene ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SAN (styrene-acrylonitrile) ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber) ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SBL (styrene-butadiene latex);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UPR (unsaturated polyester resins).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Styrene is mainly used in the following industries:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>plasturgie ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>boating industry ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>metallurgy ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>bodywork, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>manufacture of swimming pools<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>composite materials (fiberglass, carbon fiber)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>high-tech materials (boats and racing cars, weapons)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"vlep-styrene-valeur-limite-professionnelle-sur-8-h-et-court-terme\">VLEP styrene: 8-hour and short-term occupational limit value<\/h2>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/our-tips\/valeur-limite-exposition-professionnelle-ou-vlep\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1999\">Decree 2016-344 of March 23, 2016 sets binding occupational exposure limit values<\/a> for styrene.<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>8-hour occupational limit value<\/strong> (VLEP-8h) = 100<strong>mg\/m\u00b3Short-term occupational limit<\/strong> value (VLCT 15 mn) = 200 mg\/m\u00b3<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Binding occupational exposure limit values (VLEP) are governed by the French <strong>Labor Code<\/strong>. They are defined by<strong>article R. 4412-149<\/strong> as the<strong>average concentration of a chemical substance that must not be exceeded<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>in the workplace ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>in the employee breathing zone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Whether they are <strong>indicative or binding,<\/strong> VLEPs oblige companies to have these values <strong>checked annually <\/strong> <strong>by a COFRAC-accredited body<\/strong>. When assessing employee exposure to pollutants in the workplace, <strong>VLEPs are used as reference values<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n<p>Measurements of pollutant concentration levels in workplace air make it possible to determine what action to take to :<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>safety at work ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>risk prevention ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>collective protection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Please note: in France, <a href=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/our-tips\/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\/\">styrene is not a chemical substance classified as CMR<\/a> (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>At European Union level, the <strong>health and safety risks associated with exposure to styrene<\/strong> are listed as follows:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>aspiration toxicity ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>acute inhalation toxicity &#8211; vapours ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>corrosion skin irritation ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>serious eye damage\/eye irritation ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>reproductive toxicity ;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>chronic aquatic toxicity (environmental hazards).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sous-quelles-formes-retrouve-t-on-les-styrenes-et-comment-les-traiter\">What forms do styrenes come in, and how can they be treated?<\/h2>\n\n<p>Styrenics are generally found in gaseous form in industry. Solutions generally involve extracting pollutants from the workplace and evacuating them outside, with or without treatment, depending on <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\/\">regulatory constraints<\/a>. Styrenics can be filtered and separated on activated carbon. Depending on concentrations, the following are preferred:   <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>activated carbon for low to very low concentrations. Since activated carbon can adsorb a maximum of 40% of its own weight, it&#8217;s easy to estimate the amount of activated carbon required. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oxidative processes (thermal oxidation or catalytic oxidation) for higher concentrations and, ideally, for autothermal treatment (without additional oxidizing agents to maintain the oxidation process).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>You can find all <a href=\"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/produits\/traitement-cov\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"36\">VOC treatment solutions on activated carbon<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Obera designs equipment that complies with these OELs. Find out more about the Occupational Exposure Limits for styrene: its toxic chemical compound, the sectors concerned, the recommended OEL and possible treatments. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":98345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"All you need to know about binding VLEP and styrene","_seopress_titles_desc":"Find out more about the Occupational Exposure Limits for styrene. Obera designs devices that comply with these OELs. ","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-98511","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\/98511","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=98511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98515,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98511\/revisions\/98515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/obera.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}