European Parliament and EU Council negotiators reached, on Tuesday 14 November, a political agreement on the directive on occupational exposure to lead and diisocyanates, according to the European Parliament’s Danish rapporteur, Nikolaj Villumsen (The Left) (see EUROPE 13245/17).
“After months of intense negotiations, it was possible to conclude a compromise agreement which is primarily based on the EU Parliament's progressive approach to the subject”, he said in a press release.
The new directive, which will improve the lot of 4 million workers in the EU, will introduce a limit value for harmful diisocyanates for the first time.
These substances, used as part of the green transition, for example in the production of wind turbines and the renovation of buildings, damage the respiratory tract and can, among other things, cause asthma. According to the European Commission, at least 4.2 million European workers are exposed to diisocyanates every year.
The overall occupational limit value for diisocyanates will be set at 6 µg NCO/m3 (the maximum concentration to which a worker may be exposed during an eight-hour working day) and at 12 µg NCO/m3 for short-term exposure (i.e. during a 15-minute period). The European Commission will review these limits by 2029.
As far as lead is concerned, which affects, for example, building painters, metal painters and demolition workers, it is also a question of amending rules that have not been revised for 40 years. The directive will limit occupational exposure to 0.03 mg/m3 (compared with 0.15 mg/m3 at present) and the biological limit value to 15 µg/100 ml (compared with 70 μg Pb/100 ml).
A transitional biological limit value of 30 μg Pb/100 ml blood will apply until 2029 for workers who have already been exposed for a long time in the past.
However, as regards the biological limit value for lead, the directive provides for a three-year transition period, in addition to the two-year transposition period, during which the limit will be set at 30 mg/100 ml.
After this three-year transition period, the biological limit value will be lowered to 15 mg/100 ml. The European Parliament had proposed lowering this limit value immediately.
In any case, the European Commission will have to revise these rules within 5 years to provide better protection for workers of childbearing age.
This is a request from the European Parliament. It will also be necessary to ensure that the protection of employees against dangerous substances such as endocrine disruptors is also taken into account. The Commission will be asked to study the appropriateness of incorporating them into the directive.
Finally, the European Commission will have to propose measures against the so-called ‘cocktail effect’, explains the Danish rapporteur, i.e. when people are exposed to several harmful substances at the same time.
The political agreement will have to be formally approved by the two legislators. However, a number of technical meetings will take place over the next few days. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)