Lithium and its compounds – Addendum: re-evaluation of the BAR
Assessment Values in Biological Material – Translation of the German version from 2026
Andrea Kaifie1Bernhard Michalke2
Hans Drexler1 (Head of the working group “Assessment Values in Biological Material” of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
Andrea Hartwig3 (Chair of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
MAK Commission4
1 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Henkestraße 9–11, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
2 85570 Markt Schwaben, Germany
3 Institute of Applied Biosciences, Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Building 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
4 Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Abstract
The German Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area re-evaluated the data of inorganic lithium compounds (as Li [7439-93-2]) to update the biological reference value (BAR). As lithium is an essential component of modern technologies, lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and portable electronic devices in particular have led to increasing occupational exposure and a possible increase in environmental pollution in recent years. In current studies, the 95th percentiles of background concentrations in the urine of occupationally unexposed persons in Germany were in the range of 100 µg lithium/l urine. Therefore, a BAR of 100 µg lithium/l urine has been derived. Sampling time is not fixed in the steady state.
