More than 100,000 substances are used in work settings in the Netherlands. Although most of these substances are safe to use, some of them are extremely harmful if you come into contact with them.
The Netherlands Labour Authority is particularly concerned about the 12 substances listed below, because they are extremely dangerous. Employers are required to take measures to ensure that you can work in a safe and healthy work environment. This requirement applies not only to these 12, but to all other hazardous substances.
Asbestos is dangerous when damaged or processed, for example when drilling, sawing and sanding. Such activities release tiny, invisible fibres which can end up in your lungs if you inhale them. There, they can cause lung cancer or lung adenocarcinoma, although it usually takes 30 years before any symptoms emerge.
If the amount of asbestos remains below the norm (limit value), the chance of developing these diseases is small, but there is still a risk.
Asbestos has been banned since 1994. Until then it was widely used, for example in:
- asbestos cement (corrugated sheets, building materials, water pipes);
- asbestos paper/cardboard (floor coverings, sheet material);
- asbestos brake linings (cars, trucks, buses, trains);
- asbestos insulation (ovens, boilers, pipes, ships);
- asbestos-containing gaskets (industry, heating).
You can basically assume that buildings, ships, trains and other vehicles built before 1994 all contain asbestos and this means asbestos can be released whenever maintenance work is carried out. An asbestos expert assesses whether asbestos is present and explains what you need to do to work safely in such situations. It is therefore important that employers engage the services of an asbestos expert in good time whenever asbestos needs to be removed.
The legal limit value for asbestos is: 2,000 fibres/m3.
Please click the following link to find more information about asbestos.
Quartz dust is very fine dust released when materials containing quartz are processed. Quartz is found in sand and in many natural rocks, meaning it is also present in a wide variety of building materials. The very smallest dust particles in quartz dust are invisible to the naked eye. However, it is precisely these particles that can end up deep inside the lungs, where they can cause pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer. Almost everyone who works in construction will come into contact with quartz dust. This applies not only to people who work with quartz material themselves, but also those working in the vicinity.
The following are some of the groups of workers who come into contact with quartz dust on a daily basis:
- asphalt miller operators
- block work labourers (structural work)
- pile trimmer operators
- demolition workers
- terrazzo workers
- kitchen worktop processors (composite)
- workers in the concrete products and concrete mortar industries
If a cloud of dust is created while working with these materials, the worker in question must cease operations and the employer must take the necessary precautionary measures.
Diesel smoke, or Diesel Engine Emissions (DEE), are released from diesel engines of, for example:
- lorries
- cars
- tractors
- aircrafts
- ships
- excavators
- bulldozers
- pile engines and other construction equipment
- forklift trucks
- generators
DEE includes very fine soot particles and harmful gases, such as nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. DEE can cause lung cancer, bladder cancer, lung diseases (COPD) and cardiovascular diseases. Research by the Health Council of the Netherlands has revealed that DEE is even more harmful than previously thought. Either way, it is essential to keep the level of exposure as low as possible!
A legal limit of 10 micrograms per m3 (measured as respirable elemental carbon) is going to apply as of 1 July 2020.
In sectors where a lower limit value has been agreed upon in the health and safety catalogue, the limit value in said catalogue will continue to be the point of departure. The legal obligation to reduce DEE exposure to as low a level as is 'technically feasible' will continue to apply.
Please click the following link to find more information about Diesel Engine Emissions (DEE).
Fine dust is released whenever hardwood is sanded or sawn. This dust is extremely harmful to the respiratory tract. It can cause asthma, COPD and nasal cancer. The term hardwood covers wood from oak, beech or teak (deciduous trees). Wood from spruce and pine (conifers) is known as softwood.
Some types of hardwood dust can also trigger allergic reactions and irritate people's eyes and skin. Parquet floor layers and yacht builders and workers in the construction sector, timber trade, furniture and carpentry factories are particularly susceptible to being affected by hardwood dust.
Please click the link to view the The challenge of wood dust (Dutch) campaign by employers and trade unions in the wood and furniture industry.
The legal limit value for hardwood dust is 2 mg/m3. Incidentally, the same limit applies to softwood dust.
Please click the following link to find more information about Wood dust.
Chromium and compounds of chromium (chromium salts) used to be widely used in (rust-resistant) paints and leather tanning agents. These substances were also used to make wood last longer and in electroplating baths.
A very harmful type of chromium is hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6. They can sometimes be identified by the word 'chromate', but that is not always the case!
In many cases chromium-6 has already been replaced. However, it is still used for aircraft coatings, in stainless steel and in electroplating baths. Furthermore, you can come into contact with chromium-6 when sanding old paint, for example on trucks, trains, planes, military equipment and bridges. Chromium-6 is also released during the welding of stainless steel.
Breathing in dust particles containing chromium-6 can, for example, cause nasal and lung cancer. Skin contact can cause allergic reactions and chromium ulcers.
The legal limit for chromium-6 is 0.001 mg/m3.
Please click the following link to find more information about Chromium-6.
Isocyanates are substances used in polyurethane products, such as lacquers, adhesives, (insulation) foams (especially PUR foam) and sealants. Isocyanates can be inhaled, thereby causing occupational asthma. What is more, skin contact can lead to allergic reactions (eczema).
A hypersensitivity to isocyanates can develop even at low exposures. Very high exposure can cause sudden fluid accumulation in the lungs (acute pulmonary oedema), leading to severe inflammation and narrowing in the smaller airways.
Limit values have been set for a number of isocyanates. These can be found at ser.nl (Dutch).
PAHs are Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons. Most PAHs are carcinogenic. The inhalation of vapours or dust particles containing PAHs can cause lung cancer. If PAHs get on the skin, they can cause skin cancer. These days PAHs can still mainly be found in old asphalt (containing tar), in old roofing materials (bitumen) and in wood with creosote or carbolineum. People can also come into contact with PAHs in the petroleum industry (via crude oil) and in blast furnaces.
The legal limit value for PAHs (as benzo(a)-pyrene) is 0.00055 mg/m3.
PAHs also have an 'H-notation', meaning they are absorbed into your body through the skin.
Welding fumes consist of very small particles that contain, among other things, metal compounds (metal oxides), as well as irritating gases. These fumes can cause serious lung diseases such as COPD and cardiovascular diseases.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified welding fumes a human carcinogen. This classification applies not only the welding of stainless steel, which releases chromium-6, but also to welding operations in general.
The European or Dutch authorities have not yet come to the same conclusion as the WHO. As a consequence, welding fumes or not on the list of carcinogens produced by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW). However, it is still desirable, as a precaution, to reduce exposure to welding fumes to as low a level as technically possible.
Welding fumes that contain chromium-6 - released when welding stainless steel - can, in any event, cause lung cancer and it is likely that the same is true for welding fumes in general.
Welding is an activity which is performed in many sectors, such as:
- metal industry
- transportation sector (cars, lorries, trains, planes, bicycles)
- installation sector
- groundwork, road and hydraulic engineering sector (bridges for example)
- shipbuilding industry
The legal limit value for welding fumes is 1 mg/m3.
Please click the following link to find more information about Welding fumes.
Formaldehyde in its pure form is a gas. However, it is widely used as a solution in water, under the name of 'formalin.'
It is also found in all kinds of products, such as:
- some paints
- glue
- cleaning agents
- products used to preserve fabrics
It is also used, for example, in the funeral sector, agriculture and hospitals and museums. Formaldehyde can increase the risk of nasal cancer and cause allergic reactions if inhaled.
The legal limit for formaldehyde is 0.15 mg/m3.
Benzene is found in crude oil and in small amounts in petrol. It is also used as a raw material in the chemical industry. The use of benzene outside a closed system, for example as a solvent, has long been banned. Workers in the chemical and petrochemical industries are people who are most likely to come into contact with benzene. Benzene has been found to cause leukaemia.
The legal limit for benzene is 0.7 mg/m3.
People are exposed to flour dust primarily in bakeries, as well as in other businesses in the food industry. This exposure can occur, for example, when:
• milling;
• pouring flour during the production process;
• sprinkling flour onto work surfaces;
• sweeping up flour dust from the workroom floor.
In large industrial bakeries, flour dust can also get into the air through pipes, conveyor belts, production vessels that are not properly sealed and at transfer stations.
Exposure to wheat flour dust (and some enzymes, including amylase) can trigger allergic reactions and eventually lead to (baker’s) asthma and skin disorders. Although the allergic reactions generally build up gradually, they are irreversible. People who have become hypersensitive (often) remain so for the rest of their lives.
Flour dust and the alpha-amylase enzyme are the first 2 allergens for which a legal limit value has been set in the Netherlands.
The limit value for flour dust is 4 mg/m3. The limit value for alpha-amylase is 10 nanograms/m3.
Solvents are volatile organic compounds into which other substances dissolve. The following are a few examples:
- toluene
- benzene
- turpentine
- xylene
- thinner
- ether
- acetone
Solvents are not only found in, for example, (industrial) cleaning products, but also in paints, lacquers and glues. Because of their volatility and grease-dissolving properties, solvents are used for cleaning or degreasing sheet metal (for example in the context of car repair work), metal parts, spray guns and other tools, as well as in carpentry and furniture businesses, yacht building companies and the plastics processing industry.
Many of the solvents listed have a neurotoxic effect, meaning that they can result in damage to the nervous system and brain. One well-known occupational illness is organic psychosyndrome (OPS), which is also known as 'painter's disease'. However, this name is misleading. Printers, carpet layers, sheet metal workers and other professional groups that work with solvents are also at risk of OPS.
Article 4.62 of the Working Conditions Decree includes specific rules to prevent and reduce exposure to volatile organic compounds and there is no application to substitute them for other substances when it comes to a number of activities and sectors. In other cases the rules stipulate that the percentage of volatile substances in the solvent must not exceed a certain (very low) percentage.