As the KI GROUP reported this week, uniform limit values for diisocyanates are soon to be introduced across Europe for the first time. The European Parliament has already approved the Commission's proposal; all that is missing is the approval of the European Council, which is considered a mere formality. This means that the new law could come into force in just a few weeks.

The aim of this legislative package is to set the same limit values for diisocyanates and lead in all countries. Together with the mandatory training ("isocyanate license") that has already been agreed, the new limit values are intended to better protect around 4 million employees in Europe from the consequences of PUR processing. It is estimated that around 9-15% of all asthma cases of working adults are attributable to contact with diisocyanates. According to current estimates, around 2.4 million companies across Europe will be affected by the new regulations on PUR processing.

Currently, the majority of countries have set their own limits - 17 µg NCO/m³ applies in Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Poland, for example. The new law sets the following limits:

In the transition period until the end of 2028:

• 10 μg NCO/m³ for an 8-hour working day in production or processing
• 20 μg NCO/m³ for short-term contact of up to 15 min

From 2029:

• 6 μg NCO/m³ for an 8h working day in production or processing
• 12 μg NCO/m³ for short-term contact of up to 15 min

Our GLUETEC adhesives experts welcome this law and see it as confirmation to continue their research and development of more user-friendly polyurethane adhesives.


 Sources:
KI WEB: UPDATE - PUR-BRANCHE: Europaparlament bestätigt erste Grenzwerte für Diisocyanate: – Kunststoff Information (kiweb.de)

Current information on the new EU directive can be found here: EUROPEAN COUNCIL