Resources

ABIH		American Board of Industrial Hygiene: The organization which conducts the testing for CIH and issues the CIH credential.
ACGIH®		American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
AIHce		American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition. Annual, week-long professional conference jointly sponsored by AIHA and ACGIH® in the spring.
AIHA		American Industrial Hygiene Association, Fairfax, Virginia. The broad professional association for Industrial Hygienists in the U.S. and Canada, with local sections also in parts of Europe. This association is the largest professional industrial hygiene/occupational hygiene association in the world.
ANSI		American National Standards Institute. Publishes consensus standards on a wide variety of subjects, including safety equipment, procedures, etc.
API		American Petroleum Institute
APIH		Association of Professional Industrial Hygienists. Based in Tennessee, USA, this organization offers professional credentialing of industrial hygienists as RIH or RPIH under the Tennessee title protection law for industrial hygiene.
ASA		Accredited Safety Auditor, a credential issued by the International Loss Control Institute, which is located in Loganville, Georgia.
ASHRAE		American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Publishes a well-regarded multivolume handbook which includes ventilation guidance, standards on IAQ, and other ventilation related issues.
ASP		Associate Safety Professional, a temporary designation to show that an individual has passed the first examination leading to the CSP certification — the Safety Fundamentals examination.
ASSE		American Society of Safety Engineers, the national professional society for Safety Engineers in the U.S.
ATSDR		Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. An agency of the Public Health Service in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
BBP		Bloodborne pathogens. Most often used in the context of a discussion of HIV and/or Hepatitis.
BEI®		Biological Exposure Indices. A guidance value recommended by ACGIH® for assessing biological monitoring results.
BCSP		Board of Certified Safety Professionals. The certifying organization that issues the ASP, CSP, and COHST credentials following review of experience and successful completion of written tests. In addition to an exam in the Comprehensive Practice of Safety, special exams are offered in Safety Management, Fire Protection, and Safety Engineering.
BOHS		British Occupational Hygiene Society, the national professional society of occupational hygienists in the United Kingdom.
CAS		Chemical Abstracts Service, Columbus, Ohio. CAS, a division of ACS, assigns the unique numerical identifiers known as CAS Registry Numbers® (CASRN), to chemical compounds. It is also the publisher of Chemical Abstracts and other publications and offers several database services.
CCOHS		Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada-based organization offering a well-regarded collection of MSDS on CD-ROM, as well as other health and safety-related services.
CDC		Centers for Disease Control. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, this is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service which specializes in recognition, evaluation and control of communicable diseases.
CET		Certified Environmental Trainer, a credential issued by the National Environmental Training Association.
CFC		Chlorofluorocarbons, being phased out worldwide because of their detrimental effect on the ozone layer.
CFM		Cubic feet per minute, a unit of measure of air flow which is used in evaluating ventilation systems.
CFR		Code of Federal Regulations, the official compendium of regulations issued by agencies of the U.S. Federal Government. For example, 29 CFR refers to the regulations issued by the Department of Labor, and 29 CFR 1910 refers to the General Industry regulations (e.g., Part 1910) issued by OSHA, which is part of the Department of Labor.
CHP		Certified Health Physicist. A person who deals on a professional level with radiation safety. The Certified Health Physicist credential is issued by the American Academy of Health Physics.
CIH		Certified Industrial Hygienist. On good days, certification reflects education, training, and experience in the art and science of the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of health hazards in the workplace and community. On bad days, it means you have a new appreciation for the "or should have known" part of liability law. On other days, it simply means education, 5 years of experience, and passing two brain-straining tests.
CIIT		Chemical Industry Institute of Technology
CPWR		Center to Protect Workers' Rights. A U.S.-based advocacy group.
CSP		Certified Safety Professional. The safety equivalent to a CIH. The initials CSP are also used by certified sales professionals, and certified speaking professionals. The Certified Safety Professional credential is issued by the BCSP (qv).
CTD		Cumulative Trauma Disorder
dBA		Decibels on the A scale, a unit of measure of sound intensity.
DFM		Dust, fume, and mist. This abbreviation refers to a respirator filter cartridge suitable for use against dusts, fumes, or mist and is used in the new NIOSH regulation on Respirator Certification.
ELF-EMF		Extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields, a controversial area regarding the possibility of inducing cancer in exposed people.
EMR		Electro-Magnetic Radiation
EPA		Environmental Protection Agency. An agency of the U.S. Federal government which regulates chemical disposal, emissions to air, and water, and community pollution issues.
ERG		Emergency Response Guide. A document providing guidance on emergency response in a transportation incident involving a particular chemical. The term is used in the context of U.S. Department of Transportation requirements.
ERP		Emergency Response Plan
ERPG		Emergency Response Planning Guideline
GC		Gas Chromatography
HAZMAT		Hazardous Material
HAZOP		Hazard and Operability (Study), a structured means of evaluating a complex process to find problems associated with operability or safety of the process.
HAZWOPER		Hazardous Waster Operations and Emergency Response, a term derived from U.S. EPA regulations.
HEPA filter		High-Efficiency Particulate Air filter. At least 99.97% efficient in the filtration of air borne particles 0.3 microns in diameter or greater.
HPLC		High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
IARC		International Agency for Research on Cancer
IAQ		Indoor Air Quality. A general term combining a multitude of issues related to complaints by the occupants of buildings about illnesses or discomfort resulting from being in the building. Typically, no single agent or easily recognized group of agents is present in excess of a PEL or TLV®.
IDLH		Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health. As defined by NIOSH. This represents a maximum concentration from which one could escape within 30 minutes without any escape-impairing symptoms or any irreversible health effects. Note that the NIOSH definition addresses airborne concentration only. It does not consider direct contact with liquids, etc.
IOHS		International Occupational Hygiene Society. International organization of national occupational/industrial hygiene societies.
IOSH		Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. A UK-based professional association.
IR		Infrared. Infrared spectrophotometer, operates in the region of EMR of lower energy than visible, also known as heat waves, used primarily for identifying organic compounds.
IH		Industrial Hygiene (In Europe, this is usually called occupational hygiene)
ILO		International Labour Organization. International agency of the United Nations which addresses labor issues. Has an interest in occupational safety and health issues, and publishes useful reference materials.
ISO		International Standards Organization
JCAHO		Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Accreditation by this body is necessary for U.S. federal research grants, medicare reimbursement, etc.
LC50 or LC50		The concentration in air which is lethal to 50% of the test animals in a study. A convenient point of comparison between toxic materials with similar effects or target organs. Variants sometimes used include LC25 or LC75, as well as LCLo (lowest detected lethal concentration).
LD50 or LD50		The experimental dose which is lethal to 50% of the test animals in a study. A convenient point of comparison between toxic materials with similar effects or target organs.
LEL		Lower Explosive Limit. The minimum percent by volume of a gas or vapor, which when mixed with air, will form a flammable mixture.
LIH		Licensed Industrial Hygienist. A title conferred under the Illinois (USA) licensing program for Industrial Hygiene.
LOAEL		lowest-observed-adverse-effect level
MS		Mass Spectroscopy. Identifies compounds by breaking them up into all combinations of ions and measuring mass-to-charge ratios at detector.
MSDS		Material Safety Data Sheet. Provided by chemical manufacturers, required by OSHA to be available to workers.
MSHA		Mine Safety and Health Administration. An agency of the US Department of Labor.
NFPA		National Fire Protection Association. Publishes useful hazard ratings on many chemicals.
NIH		National Institutes of Health. The primary health research umbrella organization of the U.S. government, consisting of 17 separate specialized institutes all housed in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The National Library of Medicine falls under NIH.
NIHL		Noise Induced Hearing Loss
NIOSH		National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. An arm of CDC that performs research and suggests guidelines for exposure control. NIOSH is not a regulatory agency.
NIST		National Institute of Standards and Technology. A U.S. federal agency in the Department of Commerce. NIST is the successor to the U.S. National Bureau of Standards.
NMR		Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Spectroscopy used to identify structures of organic compounds by seeing how they react to magnetic fields of various frequencies.
NOAEL		no-observed-adverse-effect level
NSC		National Safety Council. A U.S.-based (Chicago) safety organization dealing with industrial safety, school and college safety, transportation safety, etc. The NSC has both organizational and individual membership and publishes a number of safety oriented pamphlets, journals, books, and data sheets. The image of a green cross on a shield together with the words "Green Cross for Safety" are trademarks controlled by NSC.
NTP		National Toxicology Program. An interagency program of the U.S. government for the testing of chemical agents for long term toxic effects.
OSHA		Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The regulatory arm of the U.S. Department of Labor. It regulates many job safety issues, including chemical handling and storage; also Occupational Safety and Health Act, the U.S. federal legislation that created OSHA (the Administration) and NIOSH, but more frequently written as OSHAct.
OSHAct		Occupational Safety and Health Act, the U.S. federal legislation that created OSHA (the administration) and NIOSH.
PEL		Permissible Exposure Limit. The maximum occupational exposure permitted under the OSHA regulations.
PPE		Personal Protective Equipment. Includes goggles, gloves, shoes, coveralls, respirators, hard hats, etc.
ppm		Parts of contaminant Per Million parts of air or other fluid. Usually called simply "parts per million," a unit of measure of the concentration of one material mixed or dissolved into another. This unit may be converted to milligrams per cubic meter.
REL		Recommended Exposure Limit. This abbreviation usually refers to a recommendation formally made by NIOSH and published in a Criteria Document for a particular agent or category of agents.
RTECS®		Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances. RTECS is a congressionally mandated database of toxicological information (e.g., published studies) compiled, maintained, and updated by NIOSH. Study quality is not reviewed, and studies reporting no toxic effects are not included in the registry.
RTK		Right to Know. May refer to an individual employee's right to know about the nature and hazards of agents used in the workplace, and/or to the right of communities and their members to know about materials used and wastes generated by workplaces situated within or adjacent to the community.
SARA		Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act. U.S. federal legislation which reauthorized the "Superfund", a fund intended to clean up existing hazardous waste sites. It also established a federal community Right to Know and tightened industrial reporting requirements.
SOT		Society of Toxicology. A U.S.-based, international professional society.
TB		tuberculosis
TLV®		Threshold Limit Value. An occupational exposure value recommended by ACGIH® to which it is believed nearly all workers can be exposed day after day for a working lifetime without ill effect.
UV		Ultraviolet radiation
UV-Vis		Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy in the visible and higher energies of light.
VOC		Volatile Organic Compound
Z list		The OSHA table of Permissible Exposure Limits, so named because the tables are identified as Z-1, Z-2, and Z-3, and because they are found in "Subpart Z-Toxic and Hazardous Substances" of the OSHA regulations. This subpart contains 20 CFR 1910.1000 through 29 CFR 1910.1500.