EU Sets Stricter Limits on Toxic Substances at Workplace

The European Union (EU) has set new rules to protect workers from carcinogens and mutagens in the workplace.  

Employers will have to assess the risk of exposure for workers and take preventive measures. This should tackle the primary cause of work-related deaths in the EU, i.e. cancer. The aim is to help save up to 100 000 lives over the next 50 years.

It includes a lower occupational exposure limit (OEL), – a maximum quantity of harmful substances that workers can be exposed to, for:

chromium VI, used in textile dyes, paints and leather tanning materials and generated during the casting, welding or cutting of stainless steel hardwood dust, produced, for instance, by cutting or pulverizing wood vinyl chloride monomer mainly used to produce PVC (polyvinyl chloride)

Member of the European Parliament (MEPs) ensured that the commission will have to assess the possibility of including reprotoxic substances, for those having effects on sexual function and fertility, by the first quarter of 2019.

Health surveillance

New rules also establish that the national authority responsible for the health surveillance of workers can decide that health surveillance must continue after the end of the exposure, for as long as needed to safeguard health.

Agreed limits

For chromium VI, a limit value of 0,010 mg/m3 will be in place for the first 5 years after the date on which it is applicable in national law, subsequently lowered to 0,005 mg/m3 afterwards. A derogation for welding, plasma cutting or similar processes puts a limit of 0.025 mg/m3 for the first 5 years and 0,005 mg/m3 thereafter.

For hard wood dust, a limit is set at 3 mg/m3 for five years after the entry into force of the directive and is thereafter lowered to 2 mg/m3.

Quick facts

Cancer is the leading cause of work-related deaths in the EU. Annually, 53 percent of occupational deaths are attributed to cancer, compared with 28 percent for circulatory diseases and 6 percent for respiratory ones.

The most common types of occupational cancer are lung cancer, mesothelioma (caused by exposure to asbestos particles) and bladder cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every tenth lung cancer death is closely related to workplace risks.