The activity of the Interdepartmental Commission for Maximum Admissible Concentrations and Intensities for Agents Harmful to Health in the Working Environment in 2018 and the work plan in 2019

Abstract

In 2018 the Commission met at three sessions, during which 9 documentations for recommended exposure limits of chemical substances, were discussed. Moreover the Commission discussed on: a system for notifying entrepreneurs, employees and inspection bodies of proposals for new or verified binding values (for carcinogenic and mutagenic substances) or indicator values for harmful chemicals in the form of messages, rules for setting limit values for harmful to health chemicals in the working environment, a program to improve working conditions in copper mines of KGHM Polska Miedź SA. and the methodology for determining hygiene standards for active substances of cytostatics, taking into account the uncertainty factor "F". The Commission suggested to the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy the following changes in the list of MAC values: adaptation of the Polish list of maximum admissible concentration (MAC-NDS) to Directive 2019/130/EC of 31/1/2019 amending Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work (these are: chloroethene, o-toluidine and 1,3-butadiene), adjusting the MAC-value for trimethylamine to the value included in the draft directive setting the fifth list of indicative occupational exposure limits, introducing changes in the list of the maximum admissible concentration of chemicals and dust harmful to health for the substances mentioned, introduce the following substances into the list of maximum admissible concentrations of chemical agents harmful to health: phenolphthalein (Carc. 1B), etoposide (Carc. 1B), fluorouracil (Muta. 1B, skin), 2-nitroanisole (Carc. 1B), N-nitrosodimethylamine (Carc. 1B). Four issues of the "Principles and Methods of Assessing the Working Environment" were published in 2018. The booklets included: 11 documentation of occupational exposure limit, 11 methods for the determination of chemical concentrations in the working environment, 4 articles, a report on the activities of the Interdepartmental Commission for MACs and MAIs in 2017 and the indexes of the documentations, methods and articles published between 2000-2018. Three sessions of the Commission are planned for 2019. MAC values for 10 chemicals substances will be discussed at these meetings. The Commission and the Group of Experts will continue to work on adapting the Polish list of the maximum admissible concentrations to: proposals for binding values for carcinogenic or mutagenic substances, proposed concentration limit values developed by the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) and work carried out at SCOEL.