B

B

Bag filters

Material filters; in dust removal systems, these are tube-shaped filters made of tightly woven fabric; often equipped with emptying device; found in simple form in vacuum cleaners.

Bau

Abbreviation for the German Institute for Occupational Safety, located in Dortmund.

Benzene

The simplest aromatic hydrocarbon (See: Hydrocarbons). Highly toxic when inhaled over long periods (damage to organs, decrease in number of red blood corpuscles). Classified as a clearly carcinogenic working material. Used in the manufacture of styrene (starting material for various plastics), aniline (starting product for numerous drugs, dyes and plastics), various dyes and pharmaceutical preparations.

BGA

Abbreviation for the German Health Office, located in Berlin.

BG-Chemie

German Chemical Industry Trade Association, located in Heidelberg.

Biological Tolerance Value

This value indicates the highest permissible quantity of a working material not detrimental to human health.

BImSCHG

Abbreviation for the German Pollutant Control Act. This law is aimed at protecting people, animals, plants and objects from adverse environmental effects and from hazards, significant disadvantage and nuisance, particularly those resulting from operation of facilities requiring official approval. Here the objective is to prevent the occurrence of adverse environmental effects by imposing regulations for the nation-wide construction, operation and monitoring of facilities as well as monitoring of air pollution levels.

Board of experts for environmental protection

A committee in Germany that consults the government pertaining to the environmental situation (stocktaking, development tendencies, undesirable trends, compensation options), made up of experts from all applicable special sciences.