Position Paper: Protecting Workers from Occupational Lead Exposures

ILA member companies engaged in the mining, smelting, and recycling of lead are committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of their employees, illustrated by the fact that the main lead producing industries in Europe have long established voluntary lead exposure reduction programmes. These go beyond current regulation and have delivered impressive results in reducing employee lead exposures in member companies over time.

We support the adoption of revised EU binding exposure limits that better reflect the current science on health effects of workplace exposure to lead and also consider technical and socio-economic feasibility. Critically, a significant transition period will be necessary to allow companies sufficient time to amend existing risk management measures and for blood lead values in workers to fall given that many EU member states have not updated their national workplace limits for decades.

Read ILA’s position paper on Protecting Workers from Occupational Lead Exposures here.