The changing outlook of psychedelic drugs: The importance of risk assessment and occupational exposure limits
Journal of Applied Toxicology August 30, 2023 Natália Bernardi Videira, Vijayalekshmi Nair, Valérie Paquet et al. 2 citations
Serotonergic psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, DMT, and 5-MeO-DMT are being studied for treating psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. Clinical trials show improvement in emotional and psychological scores with psilocybin and LSD. While these drugs are safe in controlled clinical settings, low doses can cause psychedelic effects, making occupational safety important to prevent adverse effects from daily workplace exposure. This article discusses deriving occupational exposure limits (OELs) and risk assessment for these drugs. Using psilocybin and LSD as examples, the derived OELs are 0.05 μg/m³ for psilocybin and 0.002 μg/m³ for LSD, indicating high hazard and the need for safety measures to minimize workplace exposure.