Methylene Chloride Safety (Paint and Coating Removal)
For workers and supervisors who strip paint, refinish floors or use other methylene chloride products: health effects, the PEL, STEL and action level, monitoring, regulated areas, controls, respirators, protective clothing, washing facilities, medical surveillance and training.
Based on OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1152 and 29 CFR 1910.1052 · about 6 min read
Need proof of training? The full course (25 min) adds practice questions, a job scenario, the final quiz and a certificate your employer can verify.
The construction rule for MC says its requirements are identical to the general industry standard, 29 CFR 1910.1052, which applies in general industry, construction and shipyards.
MC is a solvent used in work such as paint stripping, foam manufacturing, and cleaning and degreasing.
Exposed employees are at increased risk of cancer, adverse effects on the heart, central nervous system and liver, and skin or eye irritation.
It enters the body by inhalation, by absorption through the skin or through skin contact.
Symptoms to report include headaches, disorientation, dizziness, fatigue and decreased attention span; skin chapping, redness, cracking or burns; and chest pain or shortness of breath.
Exposure is determined with personal breathing zone air samples, either of each employee or representative of each employee's exposure.
Initial monitoring is required unless an exception applies. One exception fits construction: where employees are exposed on fewer than 30 days per year and the employer has direct-reading instrument results (such as a detector tube) that show what controls are needed.
Periodic monitoring follows a table based on the initial results (for example, every six months or every three months).
Monitoring is repeated when changes indicate exposure may have increased, such as changes in production, process, control equipment or work practices, or a leak, rupture or other breakdown.
You are notified in writing within 15 working days of the employer receiving results, and you or your representative may observe the monitoring.
Engineering controls and work practices come first, to reduce exposure to or below the PELs except where the employer shows they are not feasible. Where they are not enough, respirators supplement them.
Employee rotation may not be used to comply with the PELs.
The employer has procedures to detect leaks and contain spills. Incidental leaks are repaired and incidental spills cleaned promptly by employees who use proper PPE and are trained in cleanup.
Respirators are used when exposure exceeds the PEL or STEL, while controls are being installed, for some maintenance and repair where controls are infeasible, where controls are not enough, and in emergencies.
When respirators are required, the employer must select and provide an atmosphere-supplying respirator. Appendix A explains that supplied-air respirators are required because air-purifying respirators do not provide adequate protection against MC.
Half masks of any type must not be used, because MC may cause eye irritation or damage.
For emergency escape, the employer provides an SCBA in continuous-flow or pressure-demand mode, or a gas mask with an organic vapor canister. Escape canisters are replaced after any emergency use.
Where needed to prevent skin or eye irritation, the employer provides clean protective clothing and equipment that is resistant to MC, at no cost, and makes sure you use it. Appendix A calls for impervious clothing and gloves to prevent repeated or prolonged skin contact with liquid MC. A good practice is to check that your gloves are rated for MC.
Where skin contact with solutions of 0.1 percent or greater MC is reasonably foreseeable, conveniently located washing facilities are provided and used as needed.
Where eye contact with solutions of 0.1 percent or greater MC is reasonably foreseeable, eyewash facilities are provided within the immediate work area for emergency use.
Medical surveillance is made available to employees exposed:
at or above the action level on 30 or more days per year, or above the PEL or STEL on 10 or more days per year;
above the PEL or STEL for any time, where a physician or other licensed health care professional has identified the employee as at risk from cardiac disease or another serious MC-related condition and the employee asks to be included; and
during an emergency.
It is provided at no cost, without loss of pay, at a reasonable time and place, and includes a medical and work history that emphasizes neurological symptoms, skin conditions, history of blood (hematologic) or liver disease, signs or symptoms of heart disease, risk factors for cardiac disease, MC exposures, and the work practices and PPE used during those exposures.
Training is given before or at initial assignment, in a way you can understand. It includes the Hazard Communication information and training on MC, whose hazards include cancer, cardiac effects, central nervous system effects, liver effects, and skin and eye irritation. In addition, your employer must inform you of the requirements of the standard and the information in its appendices, and how to get a copy at work. Where exposure exceeds or can reasonably be expected to exceed the action level, you must also be told the quantity, location, manner of use, release and storage of MC and the specific operations that could expose you, particularly where exposures may be above the PEL or STEL. Employees exposed above the action level or the STEL are re-trained as necessary to keep their understanding of safe use and handling of MC.
Fact-checked against the regulation text on October 09, 2026. This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1152 and 29 CFR 1910.1052. It is not an OSHA card or license, and it does not by itself meet the training requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1052(l). Your employer must still provide information and training to each affected employee prior to or at the time of initial assignment to a job involving potential exposure to MC, presented in a manner that is understandable to the employees; train each affected employee as required under the Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200, 1915.1200 or 1926.59, as appropriate); inform each affected employee of the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1052 and the information in its appendices, and how to access or obtain a copy of it in the workplace; where exposure exceeds or can reasonably be expected to exceed the action level, inform each affected employee of the quantity, location, manner of use, release, and storage of MC and the specific operations in the workplace that could result in exposure; and re-train each affected employee as necessary. Where respirators are required, your employer must also cover you under the respiratory protection program required by 29 CFR 1910.1052(g)(2), and must make medical surveillance available where 29 CFR 1910.1052(j) requires it.
This guide explains the rule in plain words. Always read the regulation itself and your employer's site-specific procedures.