International. The European Commission has taken another step to protect European Union workers against workplace-related cancer and other health problems.
The Commission proposes to limit workers' exposure to five cancer-causing chemicals, in addition to the 21 substances that have already been limited or proposed to be limited. Estimates show that the proposal will improve the working conditions of more than 1,000,000 EU workers and prevent more than 22,000 cases of work-related illnesses.
Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, said: "Today, the Commission has taken another important step to combat work-related cancer and other relevant health problems on the job floor."
"We propose to limit workers' exposure to five additional cancer-causing chemicals. This will improve the protection of more than 1 million workers in Europe and help create a healthier and safer workplace, which is a core principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights."
The Commission proposes to include new exposure limit values for five chemicals in the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive. These limit values set a maximum concentration for the presence of a carcinogenic chemical in the air of the workplace.
The following five carcinogens of high relevance for the protection of workers have been selected:
- Cadmium and its inorganic compounds
- Beryllium and inorganic beryllium compounds
- Arsenic acid and its salts, as well as inorganic arsenic compounds
- Formaldehyde
- 4,4'-methylene-bis (2-chloroaniline) (MOCA)
The first three carcinogens listed above are widely used in sectors such as cadmium production and refining, nickel cadmium battery manufacturing, mechanical plating, zinc and copper smelting, foundries, glass, laboratories, electronics, chemicals, construction, healthcare, plastics, and recycling.
Source: European Commission.
