PEL Compliance Calculator
Calculate Time-Weighted Average (TWA) exposure and compare against the OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit to assess compliance.
Inputs
Results
8-hr TWA
36.25
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter OSHA PEL (ppm or mg/m³), Segment 1 concentration, and Segment 1 duration (hrs).
- Set Segment 2 concentration, Segment 2 duration (hrs), and Segment 3 concentration.
- Adjust Segment 3 duration (hrs), Segment 4 concentration as needed.
- Review the 8-hr TWA result.
- Use Exposure ratio (%) and Total sampled hours to inform your decision.
How the result changes with Segment 2 concentration
| Segment 2 concentration | 8-hr TWA |
|---|---|
| 10,000 | 3,763.75 |
| 35,000 | 13,138.75 |
| 65,000 | 24,388.75 |
| 90,000 | 33,763.75 |
What each input means
- OSHA PEL (ppm or mg/m³)
- The Permissible Exposure Limit for the substance (e.g. 50 ppm for acetone).
- Segment 1 concentration
- Measured or estimated airborne concentration during segment 1.
- Segment 1 duration (hrs)
- Hours of exposure at segment 1 concentration.
- Segment 2 concentration
- Measured or estimated airborne concentration during segment 2.
- Segment 2 duration (hrs)
- Hours of exposure at segment 2 concentration.
- Segment 3 concentration
- Measured or estimated airborne concentration during segment 3.
- Segment 3 duration (hrs)
- Hours of exposure at segment 3 concentration.
- Segment 4 concentration
- Measured or estimated airborne concentration during segment 4.
- Segment 4 duration (hrs)
- Hours of exposure at segment 4 concentration.
What each result means
- 8-hr TWA
- Time-Weighted Average exposure normalised to an 8-hour workday: Σ(C×T)/8.
- Exposure ratio (%)
- TWA as a percentage of the PEL. Over 100% means overexposure.
- Total sampled hours
- Sum of all segment durations.
- Action level (50% PEL)
- Concentration at which medical surveillance and monitoring are triggered.
- Status (0=OK, 1=Action, 2=Over)
- 0 = below action level, 1 = above action level but below PEL, 2 = above PEL.
- Max remaining conc.
- Maximum average concentration allowed for remaining shift hours to stay at PEL.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersOSHA PEL (ppm or mg/m³) = 50, Segment 1 concentration = 30, Segment 1 duration (hrs) = 2, Segment 2 concentration = 60 = 9 input(s) provided
- Calculate 8-hr TWA36.25 = 36.25
- Calculate Exposure ratioExposure ratio = exposureRatio * 10072.5 = 72.5
- Calculate Total sampled hoursTotal sampled hours = t1 + t2 + t3 + t48 = 8
Engine last updated . Checked against 3 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.
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