MRF Symposium Offers Outreach to ACGIH

ALEXANDRIA, VA (August 7, 2008) — ILMA, which disputes the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) proposed Threshold Limit Value - Time Weighted Average (TLV) for "Mineral Oil Used in Metal Working," has submitted new comments on the proposal and invited ACGIH to attend the 2008 Metal Removal Fluids (MRF) Symposium in early October to gain more insights into the issues.

ILMA, along with its 2008 Metal Removal Fluids (MRF) Symposium Partners UEIL, AIHA and AIAG, has been putting the finishing touches on Symposium programming that includes some 60 scientific papers and a keynote address from NIOSH's sixth director, Dr. John Howard. At the same time, ILMA's SHERA Committee prepared and the Association submitted comments last week to ACGIH, pointing out that ACGIH's proposed TLV for "Mineral Oil Used in Metal Working" is 0.2 mg/m3 - that is, 25 times lower than its proposed TLV for "Pure Mineral Oil."

ILMA's comments to ACGIH reiterated the basic points the Association made in 2006 and 2007 submissions on the proposed TLV and identified and summarized scientific papers regarding occupational health aspects of metalworking fluids that have been published in the past year. ILMA's comments note that, by focusing only on the "mineral oil" aspect of metalworking, the proposed TLV may be missing key opportunities to explore potential issues associated with proper fluid management practices, not to mention metalworking fluids that do not contain any mineral oil.

Aside from the scientific content, ILMA's comments included an invitation from ILMA to ACGIH to attend the 2008 MRF Symposium. The body of knowledge regarding occupational issues associated with metalworking fluids, not to mention new formulations and fluid management techniques, has changed in many ways since OSHA issued its mineral oil Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) decades ago.

ILMA looks forward to the 2008 MRF Symposium with great enthusiasm - everyone will hopefully learn something new, a great deal of new information will be exchanged, and at the end of the Symposium, everyone should be a little smarter on this challenging topic.

ILMA's comments to ACGIH are available to read online. More information on the upcoming MRF Symposium is available at www.mrf2008.org.

The Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association (ILMA) was founded in 1948. ILMA's 292 members include independent lubricant companies that produce more than 25% of all lubricants and 80% or more of the metalworking fluids and other specialty industrial lubricants sold in the U.S., and key suppliers of raw materials and services to independent lubricant manufacturers