EXPOSURE TO RESPIRABLE CRYSTALLINE SILICA IN THE CERAMIC INDUSTRY: NEW LEGISLATION

Crystalline silica has long been a focus of attention of European bodies (including the European Commission) and international organisations (IARC1, ACGIH2 and others). Although a number of accredited studies suggest that the substance is carcinogenic in particular work contexts, IARC itself has pointed out that carcinogenicity has not been found in all the industrial situations exam-ined. At a European level, the reference legislation is the European Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive - 2004/37/EC (known as the CMD Directive), amended 4 years ago by Directive 2017/2398. Rather than bringing the chemical substance “Crystalline Silica” within the scope of the directive, the amendment focused on “work involving expo-sure to respirable crystalline silica dust generated by a work process”. In any case, the legislation confirms the val-ue of 0.1 mg/m3 as the exposure limit for Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) dust, measured over a reference period of 8 hours.