Health and Safety: Better protection against cancer-causing chemicals

by KEITH ZAHRA

Each year, about 120,000 work-related cancer cases occur as a result of exposure to carcinogens at work in the EU, leading to approximately 80,000 fatalities annually. 

To improve workers’ protection against cancer, the Commission has proposed today to further limit their exposure to cancer-causing chemicals. This fourth revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive sets new or revised limit values for three important substances: acrylonitrile, nickel compounds and benzene. Estimates show that more than 1.1 million workers in a wide range of sectors will benefit from improved protection thanks to the new rules. 

The new proposal is the first initiative of the Commission’s commitment to fight cancer under the upcoming Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. 

Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, said: “A workplace should be a safe place and yet cancer is the cause of half of the deaths linked to work.” He said that the revisions being proposed to the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive show that the EU is determined to act and will not compromise on workers’ health. “In the backdrop of the major health crisis due to Covid-19, we will redouble our efforts to ensure that workers in Europe are protected. We will look into concrete ways on how to achieve this via the future occupational safety and health strategic framework”, he added 

The Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive is regularly updated in line with new scientific evidence and technical data. Three previous updates have addressed workers’ exposure to 26 chemicals. The new proposal adds new or revised occupational exposure limits for the following substances: Acrylonitrile (new limit); Nickel compounds (new limit), and Benzene (limit revised downwards).