Ausländische Luftgrenzwerte in der TRGS 900

In the year 1996 and 1997 a number of foreign exposure limit values were incorporated into the German technical regulations for hazardous substances (TRGS 900) based upon the recommendations of the German Commission for Hazardous Substances (AGS). The presented paper devotes its attention to the question of the exact origin and the developmental process of these values as well as their scientific foundation. Out of the underlying occupational medical and toxicological criteria documents which were made available to the authors, the majority originates from the "American Conference of Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)". A few exposure limit values have since been lowered in their country of origin and need to be reevaluated from a German standpoint, too. Beside a reference for the necessity of adding scientifically founded short term excursion limits, further proposals are made pertaining to the future attention given to the list of limit values in the interest of an effective safety protection at the workplace.