UK bids to weaken formaldehyde standard
UK bids to weaken formaldehyde standard
The UK government has attempted to undermine a proposed new European exposure limit to protect workers from a chemical linked to allergies and cancer. Commenting on new standards agreed last week by the European Commission's Advisory Committee for Safety and Health at Work, the European Trade Union Confederation's (ETUC) research arm, ETUI-REHS, reported: 'The German and British governments actively supported the formaldehyde industry's campaign, while the other governments were divided. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen that causes nose and throat cancers and leukaemia, amongst other things, and is used in many industries (wood, textile, chemicals, food processing, etc.) and in hospitals.' ETUI-REHS added that 'the British and German governments are quite likely to try and lean on the Commission again' to get the standard dropped before it receives final approval. Unions had backed the new standard at the advisory committee, and employers' organisations had been opposed. This is not the first time the UK authorities have been accused of adopting the industry line on formaldehyde. In 1997, Hazards magazine revealed the Health and Safety Executive had leapt to the defence of the MDF industry after unions called for a ban on formaldehyde-containing MDF boards. Since then unions in Australia and the US have pressed for low- and no-formaldehyde boards (Risks 306). Action to reduce the formaldehyde risk to construction workers and those in board manufacturing factories is also a priority of the global construction union federation BWI.
- ETUI-REHS news report. Fatal failings on formaldehyde, Burying the evidence, Hazards magazine, number 92, 2005. Global Unions zero cancer campaign. BWI cancer prevention resources.
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