Posted By LynneR it depends upon your process and what form of bitumen in use eg. hot, cold, emulsion, paving grades, road levels? etc contact your supplier and ask for their MSDS that should contain the info you need and if not get on to their technical department and ask them. They provide it so they will know the manufacturer to provide any info.

Posted By Robert K Lewis Robert A google on ther term Bitumwen fume produces a number of papers such as this one http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih....s=10689757&dopt=Abstract Bob

Posted By LynneR Robert They may not have that process but they will have data for the properties of the bitumen when heated. Differing levels of chemicals are released at different temperatures. go to the supplier and check!

Posted By Granville Jenkins Hi Robert Not a simple situation. I have done a search on the Internet and come up with the following information, which should be of interest: The vapour, mists, fumes or gases that are given off will contain a cocktail of chemicals, including polycyclical aromatic hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulphide. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are a group of powerful cancer causing chemicals that can damage DNA and cause tumours. Hydrogen Sulphide smells of rotten eggs is highly toxic and is an irritant to the respiratory tract, it is quickly absorbed by the lungs and exposure may lead to coma or death. With hydrogen sulphide there is a rapid loss of sense of smell on exposure to hydrogen sulphide that means the extent of the exposure may be under estimated. If operations are are such that there is an excessive generation of vapour, mist, or fumes to which operatives would be exposed then suitable approved respiratory protective equipment should be worn. Recommended: TWA 5ppm/7mg/m3 SEL 10ppm/14mg/m3 Regards Granville

Posted By Anthony Elsmore Robert, A starting point would be to test that the LEV is functioning correctly. If there is residual smell then it would seem to indicate the LEV is either not working correctly or is simply inadequate for this process. Realistically if this process is to continue you will need to control the smell within the working area even if the levels of fume are found to be below it's WEL. If you are going to continuously discharge fume via an LEV exhaust make sure you do not create a Statutory Nuisance to your neighbours from the smell. Cheers Ant

Posted By John Middleton I have been away from the chemical industry for a while, but in the late 90s, I was working on a site that was sampled by the HSL for research into tar based cancers. The group of PAHs that cause the problem (cancer of the kidneys I think) was known as coal tar pitch volatile (CTPV). There used to be an exposure limit reference in EH40, but it has been removed. Work was done across a range of industries, e.g. coking plants, tar distillation, aluminium smelting, asphalt production etc. It was decided that an MEL should be set, but it should be based on a level of one typical constituent 1,3 butadiene rather than CTPV as a whole. The MEL was not set at this time and CTPV continued to be observed by the HSE. A 2003 paper by Richard Pederson, ACTS/26/2003 entitled Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: A Control Approach debated the merits of setting an MEL for CPTV at 0.5, 1 or 2 µg/m3. The problem was that different industries would experience difficulties whatever the MEL was set at and as few employees were affected control costs were disproportionate. The recommendations were that HSE would · prepare sector-specific guidance; · establish a benchmark biological monitoring guidance value of 4 µmol/creatinine for 1-hydroxypyrene in urine · include PAHs within HSE’s overall Carcinogens programme · abandon the MEL proposal I do not know if anything has happened in the last few years but I think that your work would be covered by these proposals