On Monday 13 February, the European Commission presented a proposal for a directive amending two older directives on the occupational exposure of European workers to lead and diisocyanates, agents that might have been used in the production of batteries and in processes to make electric vehicles lighter, in wind turbines or as insulating materials in building renovations, it explained in a statement.
Following consultation with European social partners, the Commission has proposed, by means of a single instrument, to revise the Directive on providing protection to workers against the risks related to exposure to carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances at work and, with regard to lead and diisocyanates, the Directive relating to the protection of workers against risks linked to chemical agents in the workplace.
Regarding lead, it proposes to further lower the occupational exposure limit from 0.15 milligrams per cubic metre (0.15 mg/m3) to 0.03mg/m3 and to lower the biological limit value from 70 micrograms per 100 millilitres of blood (70µg/100ml) to 15µg/100ml.
According to the European Commission, 100,000 workers in the EU are currently exposed to lead in the workplace, which could affect sexual function and fertility. If the workforce that is being exposed to lead is predominantly male, it is therefore necessary to “minimise the risks to women of childbearing age and ensure that their blood lead levels do not exceed the reference values for those parts of the general population not occupationally exposed to lead in the relevant Member State”.
In cases where national reference values are not available, levels of lead in the blood of women of childbearing age should not exceed 4.5 µg/100ml.
In terms of lead and diisocyanates, the aim is to introduce, for the first time, limit values to protect workers from exposure to diisocyanates at work, explained the European Commission in a press release. The amendment proposes an overall occupational exposure limit of 6 µg NCO/m3 (the maximum concentration of a substance in air that a worker breathes over a given reference period, 8 hours) and a short-term exposure limit of 12 µg NCO/m3 (i.e. a shorter reference period, 15 minutes).
Diisocyanates are chemicals that can cause respiratory diseases such as asthma. According to the Commission, 4.2 million workers in the EU are currently being exposed to diisocyanates.
In addition to limit values, the Commission proposes to support these values with “ratings”, i.e. indications added to the limit values that alert employers and workers to possible exposure by routes other than inhalation, e.g. through the skin.
Link to the proposed directive: https://aeur.eu/f/5b6 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)