In the Know: CTEH Presents at Annual Society of Toxicology Meeting

CTEH toxicologists—led by Dr. Josh Harrill—are in San Diego this week for the 54^th Annual Society of Toxicology (SOT) Meeting and ToxExpo. Toxicologists from around the globe will join them as they present their research on occupational exposure limits (OELs) for hydrocarbon vapor mixtures emitted from Bakken and non-Bakken crude oil.

With the increase of hydraulic fracturing and crude oil transportation, train derailments involving Bakken crude oil are gaining more attention from the public. Following these events, it has been speculated that Bakken crude oil may contain a higher concentration of light hydrocarbons than other light crude oil. CTEH toxicologists conducted an analysis on the OELs for petroleum hydrocarbon vapor mixtures (VHMs) within both crude oils. This analysis indicates there is no appreciable difference in the toxicity of VHMs from Bakken and non-Bakken sources and that health protective OELs for VHMs emitted from both types of crude oil are similar.

Read their full abstract—Derivation and Comparison of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) for Hydrocarbon Vapor Mixtures Emitted from Bakken and Non-Bakken Crude Oil—in The Toxicologist, the official journal of SOT:

http://www.toxicology.org/ai/pub/Tox/2015Tox.pdf