The main work-related killer in Europe
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Over a million people died of cancer in the European Union in 2006. Many of these deaths were the direct result of workers being exposed to carcinogens at work. The scientific consensus is that on average, 8% of cancer deaths are work-related. For some types of cancer, like bladder and lung cancer, the proportion is even well above 10%. It is safe to say that cancer is now the main cause of "death by working conditions" in Europe.
Not all workplaces are equally affected by this cancer "epidemic". Epidemiological studies and different national and European surveys have shown that manual workers are by far most exposed to carcinogens. They are much more likely than "white collar" workers to be exposed to asbestos and a string of dangerous solvents produced by the petrochemical industry. Construction workers, for example, are particularly exposed to silica, sunshine and hardwood dust, whose carcinogenic potential is now well-established.
Research into women’s cancer risks is thin on the ground, and has probably led to work-related cancers being seriously underestimated. Very little research has been done into work-related factors involved in breast cancer, for example.
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European legislation: Market controls and worker protection
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European carcinogens legislation can be divided into two categories: that on marketing of carcinogens, and that on protecting workers exposed to them. Both classes of rules exist in tandem, and employers who produce or use these carcinogens have to comply with the obligations arising from both.
The law on marketing carcinogenic substances is found in a slew of complex regulations and directives, which will be amended or even scrapped as REACH, the new European rules on the trade in chemicals, is phased in from 1 June 2007.
The main law dealing specifically with worker protection is the Carcinogens Directive (90/394/EEC). This piece of legislation, which is being revised (see below), lays down an order of priority in obligations on employers to reduce the use of carcinogens at work.
The overriding obligation is to replace the carcinogen with a substance which is not dangerous or is less so. Where a safer alternative exists, the employer must substitute it, whatever the cost to the business. Where substitution proves "technically impossible", the employer must ensure that the carcinogen is manufactured or used in a closed system. If he cannot take this safety step, he must ensure that the workers’ exposure is "reduced to as low a level as is technically possible". The Carcinogens Directive also provides for occupational exposure limit values to be established.
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Revision of the Carcinogens Directive
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In April 2007, the European Commission set going the second phase of European social partner consultations on revising the Carcinogens Directive. The process had been launched three years earlier to adapt the legislation to advances in scientific knowledge, technical progress and the world of work. The problems the Commission faces in moving the work forwards gives an idea of the interests in play. The two big stumbling blocks are extending the directive’s scope to reprotoxins, and defining occupational exposure limit values (OELVs) for a bigger number of carcinogens. So far, only three substances have been assigned OELVs (benzene, vinyl chloride monomer and hardwood dust), even though limit values for many other carcinogens have been set in national laws.
The ETUC is for the extension to reprotoxins, and the setting of new OELVs. The European employers are adamantly against.
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Trade union action is key
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Asbestos is already responsible for the deaths of thousands of European workers, and is expected to kill another 500 000 by 2030 in Western Europe. The labour movement was slow to react to this tragedy, but trade unions have stepped up campaigning since the early 2000s. The sudden awakening seems to have gone beyond the specific case of asbestos. The adoption of REACH and inclusion of "sustainable development" in the European trade union agenda seem to be bringing on other actions to reduce workers’ exposure to carcinogens.
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Articles published in the HESA Newsletter
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- The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
- CAREX
International Information System on Occupational Excposure to Carcinogens
- World Health Organisation (WHO)
- International Union Against Cancer
- International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS)
- World Cancer Research Fund International
- European Cancer Leagues
- EuroWorksafe - European semantic portal on occupational cancer risks and prevention
- European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR)
- Federation of European Cancer Societies
- The British Toxicology Society ( UK)
- Cancer Research (UK)
- Hazards special web pages on occupational (UK)
- OCCAM (OCcupational CAncer Monitoring) (Italy)
- Canadian Network of Toxicology Centres (Canada)
- Chemical Carcinogenis Research Information System (USA)
Carcinogenicity and mutagenicity test results for over 8,000 chemicals
- Carcinogenic Potency Database (USA)
The database contains more than 5.000 experiments on 1,300 chemicals
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (USA)
- American Association for Cancer Research (USA)
- Cancer prevention coalition (USA)
Contact persons: ,
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