Allergy Group of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area (MAK Commission) of the German Research Foundation (DFG)

The Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, the so-called MAK Commission, provides scientific advice to the DFG Senate and federal/state governments, parliaments and authorities on health protection issues relating to exposure to hazardous substances, especially in the field of occupational safety.  The Commission has about 32 honorary members and 4 permanent guests. Members come from the fields of toxicology, occupational medicine, epidemiology and statistics, chemistry and biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology, pathology and dermatology. The Commission is supported in its work by other scientists of the Commission Secretariat who compile the substance-related data and prepare it for the Commission's work. The scientists are also responsible for content review, editorial processing and publication of the List of MAK and BAT Values (MAK values: maximum workplace concentration; BAT values: biological work substance tolerance values) and the scientific substantiations. The Commission is organized into working groups which take on concrete work packages relating to the risk assessment of substances, operating in close coordination with each other. Mrs. Prof. Blömeke is head of the “Allergy” group.