The Modern Approach to the Diagnosis of Occupational Disease

An understanding of the health effects that may occur from occupational exposures is critical in terms of the potential human toll and an industry's success and sustainability. In the context of modern medicine, the diagnosis of an occupational disease is a multidisciplinary process and includes input from professionals in occupational medicine, nursing, industrial hygiene, toxicology, epidemiology, engineering, and others. Risk assessment is the process of determining whether a chemical will produce harm under specified conditions of exposure. The issue of whether a particular chemical exposure causes disease in humans may be approached in different ways. Permissible exposure limit (PEL), recommended exposure limit (REL), and threshold limit value (TLV) are occupational exposure limits developed by OSHA, the U. S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), or the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), respectively.