New rules lowering asbestos exposure limits adopted

The EU Council on Monday (23 October) formally adopted the directive to step up the protection of workers from health risks related to asbestos, the final stage in the legislative process for the file.

Asbestos – a group of six naturally occurring minerals – is harmful because of its thin, microscopic fibres that can be easily inhaled and increase the risk of cancers.

Today’s adoption by the Council is the last step in the legislative process. The new directive, which both steps up protections and improves the early detection of asbestos fibres based on newly available technologies, will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

“With the new directive adopted today, thanks to the negotiations concluded by the Swedish presidency, we can better protect workers in the EU while safely embarking on a renovation wave to make our buildings greener and energy-efficient,” Yolanda Díaz Perez, acting Second Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Work and Social Economy, said in the press release following the vote.

Updated rules were agreed on among the Council and Parliament during the Swedish presidency on 27 June 2023. 

EU lawmakers agree to cut asbestos limits at work ten times

The European Parliament and EU countries reached a political agreement on Tuesday (27 June) on the update of the EU Directive on asbestos at work, lowering asbestos limits ten times and setting new measurement methods.

The new rules 

Member states will have two years to incorporate all provisions of the directive into their national legislation, except for the introduction of electron microscopy as a measuring method, for which they will have six years.

The new rules set the occupational exposure limit to be ten times lower as the limit value will be decreased from 0.1 to 0.01 fibres of asbestos per cubic centimetre (cm³).

When it comes to measuring, after a maximum transition period of six years member states will have to switch to more modern and sensitive technology that can detect fibres, namely electron microscopy (EM) – which is more sensitive than the phase-contrast microscopy (PCM) currently used.

This will make it possible to measure thin asbestos fibres, following which member states will have two options: either to measure them, in which case the maximum exposure limit will remain at 0.01 f/cm3, or not to measure them, in which case the maximum exposure limit will be reduced to 0.002 f/cm3.

The directive also includes requirements to protect workers more robustly, including protective clothing, respiratory equipment, and safe clothing cleaning.

The parliament voted in favour of the updated rules at the beginning of October. The Commission’s proposal for the directive designed to protect workers from cancer-causing asbestos came in September last year, following a European Parliament resolution calling on the Commission to update the asbestos at work directive.

EU Parliament approves lowering asbestos exposure limit

The European Parliament on Tuesday (3 October) approved a directive stepping up protections of workers from health risks related to asbestos and improving the early detection of asbestos fibres.

The harmfulness of asbestos

The new rules are timely as the EU’s renovation wave, a part of the European Green Deal, aims to revamp 35 million inefficient buildings by 2030 – offering an opportunity to remove asbestos, while at the same time exposing workers to an increased risk of occupational cancers.

Exposure to asbestos fibres can lead to lung cancer, laryngeal and ovarian cancer, and also mesothelioma. Meanwhile, ingesting water containing such fibres increases the risk of gastric and colorectal cancers.

While a phase-out from asbestos was launched at the EU level in 1983, with a complete ban on all forms of asbestos in place in all member states by 1 January 2005, asbestos fibres are still present in millions of buildings and infrastructures.

“Asbestos is a highly dangerous substance and remains the leading cause of occupational cancer almost two decades after it was banned in the EU,” Perez stressed.

Asbestos remains an issue for a number of sectors, such as construction, renovation, and firefighting. It is by far the biggest cause of work-related cancer: 78% of occupational cancers recognised in EU member states are related to asbestos exposure, based on parliament’s press release, killing more than 70,000 people a year in Europe.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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