Skip to content
DRAFT REPORT (COM(2023)0071 – C90022/2023 – 2023/0033(COD))

On the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 98/24/EC and Directive 2004/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the limit values for lead and its inorganic compounds and diisocyanates

EMPL-PR-746964

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs · Rapporteur: Nikolaj Villumsen

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull text
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 26 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

The draft report sets out Parliament's position on a proposed directive amending Directive 98/24/EC and Directive 2004/37/EC on limit values for lead and its inorganic compounds and diisocyanates. It proposes a binding biological limit value of 4.5 µg Pb/100 ml blood and an occupational exposure limit of 4 µg Pb/m3 for lead, replacing the Commission's proposed 15 µg/100 ml and 0.03 mg/m3. It keeps the Commission's occupational exposure limit of 6 µg NCO/m3 and short-term limit of 12 µg NCO/m3 for diisocyanates, with a transitional value of 10 µg NCO/m3 and 20 µg NCO/m3 until 31 December 2028. It adds new definitions, rules on combined exposure and biological levels, and asks the Commission to prepare guidelines and reviews on combined exposure, endocrine disruptors, carcinogenic occupations and historical lead exposure. It adds hazardous medicinal products to Annex I and amends Annex IIIa on medical surveillance thresholds.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes to amend the Commission proposal, in particular by setting a binding biological limit value of 4.5 µg Pb/100 ml blood and an occupational exposure limit of 4 µg Pb/m3 for lead, keeping the diisocyanate limit values unamended, and adding provisions on combined exposure, endocrine disruptors, carcinogenic occupations and historical lead exposure.

Key points

  1. Parliament adopts its first-reading position on the Commission proposal to amend Directive 98/24/EC and Directive 2004/37/EC on limit values for lead and its inorganic compounds and diisocyanates.
  2. It calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal.
  3. It adds recitals stating that lead accounts for around half of all occupational exposure to reprotoxic substances and that the Committee for Risk Assessment recommended an occupational exposure limit of 4 μg Pb/m3 and a biological limit value of 15 µg Pb/100ml.
  4. It adds recitals stating that a revised biological limit value of 4.5 µg/100ml blood and a revised occupational exposure limit of 4 µg Pb/m3 should be established to protect all workers irrespective of sex.
  5. It adds recitals on medical surveillance, on moving workers with accumulated blood-lead levels to other tasks, and on preventive medical surveillance for lead-exposed workers.
  6. It keeps the occupational exposure limit of 6 µg NCO/m3 and short-term exposure limit of 12 µg NCO/m3 for diisocyanates, with a transitional value of 10 µg NCO/m3 and 20 µg NCO/m3 until 31 December 2028.
  7. It adds recitals on extending the scope of Directive 2004/37/EC to endocrine disruptors, on combined exposure to multiple substances, and on protecting firefighters from carcinogenic exposure.
  8. It adds recitals on protecting workers in critical raw material and green economy industries, on a non-exhaustive Union list of carcinogenic occupations, and on workers in the circular economy and informal waste sectors.
  9. It amends the definitions of 'mutagen' and 'reprotoxic substance' to include substances, mixtures or processes referred to in Annex I, and adds a definition of 'hazardous medicinal products'.
  10. It inserts new provisions requiring adaptation of limit values for combined exposure, requiring biological levels not to exceed the biological limit value, and requiring Commission guidelines on combined exposure.
  11. It requires the Commission to review the Directive and assess including endocrine disruptors, to develop a definition and non-exhaustive list of carcinogenic occupations, and to develop guidelines on historical occupational exposure to lead.
  12. It adds work involving exposure to hazardous medicinal products to Annex I and amends Annex IIIa to set a biological limit value of 4.5 μg Pb/100 ml blood and medical surveillance thresholds of 0.002 mg/m3 in air or 2.7 μg Pb/100 ml blood.

Who is affected

  • Workers exposed to lead and its inorganic compounds, who would be covered by a binding biological limit value of 4.5 µg Pb/100 ml blood.
  • Workers exposed to diisocyanates, who would be covered by occupational exposure limits of 6 µg NCO/m3 and 12 µg NCO/m3, with a transitional value until 31 December 2028.
  • Employers, who must take measures to reduce blood-lead levels of workers above the biological limit value and adapt limit values for combined exposure.
  • The Commission, which must prepare guidelines on combined exposure, historical lead exposure and carcinogenic occupations, and review the Directive.
  • Workers in waste collecting, sorting and recovery sectors and the informal economy, who face disproportionate exposure to harmful substances.

Figures and deadlines

  • 4.5 µg Pb/100 ml blood — revised biological limit value for lead.
  • 4 µg Pb/m3 — revised occupational exposure limit for lead as an 8-hour time-weighted average.
  • 15 µg Pb/100ml (150 µg Pb/L) — biological limit value recommended by the Committee for Risk Assessment.
  • 6 µg NCO/m3 — occupational exposure limit for diisocyanates.
  • 12 µg NCO/m3 — short-term exposure limit for diisocyanates.
  • 10 µg NCO/m3 and 20 µg NCO/m3 — transitional values for diisocyanates until 31 December 2028.
  • 0.002 mg/m3 in air or 2.7 μg Pb/100 ml blood — thresholds for medical surveillance.
  • 4.5 μg/ml (45 μg/L) — biological guidance value for women of childbearing age where national reference levels are not available.

Legal basis: Article 294(2) and Article 153(2), point (b), in conjunction with paragraph 1, point (a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.