Exposure Limit Values for Nanomaterials—Capacity and Willingness of Users to Apply a Precautionary Approach

Abstract

In the European Union, the legal obligation for employers to provide a safe workplace for processing manufactured nanomaterials is a challenge when there is a lack of hazard information. The attitude of key stakeholders in industry, trade unions, branch and employers’ organizations, and government policy advisors toward nano reference values (NRVs) has been investigated in a pilot study that was initiated by a coalition of Dutch employers’ organizations and Dutch trade unions. NRVs are developed as provisional substitutes for health-based occupational exposure limits or derived no-effect levels and are based on a precautionary approach. NRVs have been introduced as a voluntary risk management instrument for airborne nanomaterials at the workplace. A measurement strategy to deal with simultaneously emitting process-generated nanoparticles was developed, allowing employers to use the NRVs for risk assessment. The motivational posture of most companies involved in the pilot study appears to be pro-active regarding worker protection and acquiescent to NRVs. An important driver to use NRVs seems to be a temporary certainty employers experience with regard to their legal obligation to take preventive action. Many interviewees welcome the voluntary character of NRVs, though trade unions and a few companies advocate a more binding status.

Keywords:

• nanomaterials
• nano reference values
• precautionary approach
• occupational exposure limits
• soft regulation

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The study was carried out within the framework of pilot project “Nano Reference Values,” commissioned by the Dutch social partners FNV, CNV, and VNO/NCW, with a grant from the Ministry of Social Affairs. Further elaboration of the results was made possible by a grant of the UvA Holding BV. The authors would like to thank the companies that gave access to their workplaces, (electroplating company, paint, glass, machine and lightning manufacturers, and the vehicle refinishing shop) for their participation openness about details of their processes and readiness to participate in the interviews. The authors also thank the trade union officers, branch and employers’ organizations’ officers, and policy advisors of the government institutions that participated in the interviews. The helpful comments of the anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged.