EU Parliament and Council negotiators have reached a provisional agreement on new rules to improve EU standards protecting workers from exposure to certain dangerous substances.
According to the European Commission, once formally adopted, the strengthened Directive can avert around 1,700 cases of lung cancer and 19,000 work-related illnesses over the next 40 years, while generating up to €1.16 billion in healthcare savings across the EU.
“Every year, around 120,000 workers in the EU are diagnosed with occupational cancer linked to exposure to carcinogens at work”, said the Parliament’s rapporteur Liesbet Sommen, MEP: ” This is a preventable tragedy that we cannot accept. By introducing stricter exposure limits, this agreement will better protect workers’ health, reduce risks in the workplace and strengthen decent working conditions across the European Union, while giving companies the necessary legal certainty and time to comply with the new standards.”
The sixth revision of the CMRD sets clearer rules and protective exposure limits for high-risk substances such as cobalt and inorganic cobalt compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 1,4-dioxane and isoprene.
Cobalt and inorganic cobalt compounds are used in battery production (e.g. for electric vehicles), as well as in the manufacturing of magnets and hard metals. The new rules introduce occupational exposure limits for both inhalable and respirable fractions of these substances. They introduce a 6-year transitional period with higher limits to allow industries time to adapt their processes and technologies, reducing economic disruption while improving safety standards and worker protection.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be found in steel, iron and aluminium production, as well as in welding fumes. They are essential in the production of batteries storing energy produced by wind turbines, semiconductors and electric vehicles. The latest revision of the rules establishes a new exposure limit while a temporary limit twice as high will apply for 7 years after the Directive enters into force, to help the most affected sectors adapt.
1,4-dioxane is used in chemical and textile production and is present in some household detergents. The new rules include a general occupational exposure limit, a short-term exposure limit and a biological limit value to this substance.
Isoprene is used in the chemical and rubber industries. The new rules include a general occupational exposure limit to this substance.
In addition, the revised rules add welding fumes to the scope of the Directive, highlighting their possible danger for workers and clarifying employers’ obligations regarding necessary protective and preventive measures. They also include specific notations highlighting potential exposure to these substances through the skin or other routes.
The agreed text will now need to be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. Once the Directive enters into force, Member States will be required to incorporate it into national law within the agreed deadline.
Sixth revision of the Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic substances Directive (CMRD)
