Preparations for the Open Science Day at the Futurium to mark the Commission’s 70th anniversary are well under way / A total of 94 new publications in 2024

The members, permanent guests and invited guests of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area (MAK Commission) met in Berlin on 13 March 2025 for this year’s plenary session.

The Commission’s work has always focused on the scientific recommendation of threshold limit values for substances relevant to the workplace. This work is based on the analysis and integration of all available information, findings and studies relating to a given substance. A key challenge in this context is the generally insufficient availability of data derived from studies conducted in human 1(externer Link). As a consequence, the derivation of threshold limit values often requires the integration of findings obtained in different animal models and thus across different species, and their comparison with available human data. This interspecies correlation requires collaboration between different scientific disciplines and is highly demanding. Further insights come from studies on the substance’s mode of action, such as those carried out in cell cultures. In recent years, numerous alternative approaches to substance assessment have also been developed. In 2023, the Commission set out its position on the perspectives and limitations of these so-called New Approach Methods (NAMs), which include in particular data-based and AI-based simulation approaches as well as high-throughput test systems 2(externer Link). Accordingly, the past working year saw the continuous expansion of the Commission’s expertise, intensive engagement with these new methods and the development of concepts for integrating findings from conventional toxicological studies with those obtained using alternative approaches. 

In the reports issued by the Commission’s working groups presented at the plenary session, it once again became impressively clear how the specific focal points of the individual working groups interlock and contribute equally to risk assessment and the establishment of measurement methods. Through engagement with issues such as percutaneous absorption, sensitisation, inhalation-related or carcinogenic effects, and possible effects on the germ line, each of which is examined within the respective working group, it is often possible to elucidate the toxicological effect profiles of substances. Understanding the mechanism of action is generally a prerequisite for a sound risk assessment and the starting point for effective protective measures.

Looking back on the past year, several particularly complex assessments can be highlighted. 

Based on new studies, the existing threshold limit value for aluminium and its poorly soluble compounds was reviewed, and a MAK value of 0.5 mg/m³ for the inhalable fraction and 0.05 mg/m³ for the alveolar fraction was proposed. For soluble non-irritant and soluble irritant aluminium compounds, MAK values of 0.005 mg/m³ and 0.0002 mg/m³, respectively, were recommended for the inhalable fraction. These proposals prompted a large number of comments, and these were discussed and addressed at the plenary session.

The Commission also addressed formaldehyde releasers, which are used in such areas as cosmetics, paints and metalworking fluids to prevent microbial contamination. Although formaldehyde itself is known to have carcinogenic effects on the upper respiratory tract if the MAK value is exceeded, the assessment of formaldehyde releasers must take into account the dynamics of formaldehyde release, such as pH value and hydrolysis rate. In order to enable broader scientific discussion of these findings, the Commission decided to publish a contribution in the journal Archives of Toxicology.

Lithium is an essential component of modern technologies. In recent years, lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and portable electronic devices in particular have led to increasing occupational exposure of employees and potentially increased environmental exposure. In response to this growing relevance to workers, the biological reference value (“BAR”) for lithium was re-evaluated on the basis of current literature. This makes it possible to determine whether those potentially exposed to lithium at the workplace have levels above the background exposure found in the general population, thereby indicating increased occupational exposure.

Following completion of the comment phase, the results of the Commission’s work were again made available last year in open access to the research community and the public on the publication platform “MAK Collection”, both as the List of MAK and BAT Values and as the journal “The MAK Collection for Occupational Health and Safety”. 

In 2024, a total of 94 publications were released, including 50 MAK and 20 BAT scientific substantiations, the derivation of 10 MAK values and 7 assessment values in biological material, and the description of 14 methods for air analysis and 10 methods for biomonitoring. This large number of publications once again highlights the high level of voluntary commitment on the part of all those involved in the Commission’s work. At the heart of the Commission’s capacity to function is its Scientific Secretariat: its highly competent research activities and the discussion papers it prepares form the basis for both the productivity and the quality of the Commission’s work. In addition to publications in the MAK Collection, the opportunity was also taken in the course of the past year to raise awareness of the Commission’s work at various academic conferences in Germany and abroad.

An event to mark the Commission’s 70th anniversary will take place from 10 am to 5 pm on 1 October 2025 at the Futurium in Berlin. On this occasion, the Commission will present a wide range of topics related to hazardous substances at the workplace and provide insights into its work for members of the public interested in science.

Further information

• Commission homepage(interner Link)
• MAK Collection for Occupational Health and Safety(externer Link)
• List of MAK and BAT Values(externer Link)

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¹ Relevanz von Humanstudien für die Ableitung von Arbeitsplatzgrenzwerten – Positionierung der Ständigen Senatskommission zur Prüfung gesundheitsschädlicher Arbeitsstoffe (2019) (in German only)(externer Link) [Relevance of human studies for the derivation of occupational exposure limits – Position paper issued by the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area] 

² New Approach Methods (NAMs) in der wissenschaftsbasierten Ableitung von Grenzwerten – derzeitige und zukünftige Rolle Stellungnahme der Ständigen Senatskommission zur Prüfung gesundheitsschädlicher Arbeitsstoffe (MAK-Kommission) der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (in German only)(externer Link) [New Approach Methods (NAMs) in the science-based derivation of threshold limit values – current and future roles – Position paper issued by the DFG’s Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area]