The development and regulation of occupational exposure limits in Asia

This special issue of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology is devoted to a discussion of the development and regulation of occupational exposure limits (OELs) in Asia. OELs are the necessary links between the science of risk assessment and the management of risk as a result of occupational exposures. Ideally, OELs are based on the best available and most up-to-date information. The development processes of OELs and the ultimate values of the OELs themselves may vary considerably from country to country, influenced mainly by the philosophical objectives of the regulatory agencies and the economic state of affairs in that country. Even among countries using very similar methodologies and essentially the same datasets, OELs may still vary markedly. More recently, however, there is a tendency toward harmonization of OELs internationally. It is interesting to compare both differences and similarities across countries. We have chosen Asia for this special issue because many Asian countries have now become the manufacturers of goods for other nations all over the world. China, in particular, is the new manufacturing powerhouse. According to the May 9, 2005, issue of Newsweek, China is now the world’s largest producer of coal, steel, and cement. China has also put more clothes on more people all over the world than any other country. China manufactures two-thirds of the world’s copiers, microwave ovens, DVD players, and shoes. China’s exports to the United States have grown by 1600% over the past 15 years. In 2004, Americans bought $11 billion worth of clothes and another $185 billion worth of other goods from China. Wal-Mart alone imported $18 billion worth of goods from China in 2004. Of Wal-Mart’s 6000 suppliers, 80% are in just one country—China. The same scenario, to a lesser extent, is also true for other Asian countries. In essence, many Asian countries have now become the factories for more developed countries, such as the United States, Canada, Japan, and European nations. This fact has created a new twist in the management of workers’ health risk resulting from occupational exposures to industrial hazards. With the globalization of the world’s economy, the workers’ health risk can now be transferred