OELs derivation in Poland and in the former Eastern Bloc with reference to approaches and practices applied in the EU.
Based on the literature, current legislation and the European Union (EU) directives, the rules to protect the health of workers in Poland and the countries of the former Eastern Bloc were analyzed. Since 2002, the activities in the field of hygiene standards in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc have been correlated with the EU policy. The functioning of the system of maximum admissible concentrations (MAC) having been implemented in Poland for many years before the accession to the EU, has provided for a relatively quick adjustment of Polish regulations on chemicals to the relevant European law. The Polish list includes 543 substances. In the former Eastern Bloc countries, intensification of work after joining the EU has caused the lists in those countries to contain from 285 substances in Slovakia to 780 in Lithuania. Currently, all substances included in the EU lists (up to and including the 3rd list of occupational exposure limit values of the Directive 2009/161/EC) have been governed by the Polish, Lithuanian, Czech, Latvian and Hungarian law. In Estonia and Slovakia the provisions of the Directive 2006/15/EC establishing the second list of occupational exposure limits have been implemented. Individual national lists contain much more chemicals than the EU list containing currently 122 substances. The legislative process in the EU is slow, and that is why the national law is important and necessary due to the local needs in selected areas. It is necessary to correlate the activities in the field of determining regional occupational exposure limit (OEL) values in the countries of the Eastern Bloc and the EU.
['Soćko|Renata|R|', 'Czerczak|Sławomir|S|', 'Kupczewska-Dobecka|Małgorzata|M|']
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational D005060:Europe D005062:European Union D006077:Government Agencies D006801:Humans D019570:Inhalation Exposure D008452:Maximum Allowable Concentration D016273:Occupational Exposure D016272:Occupational Health D011044:Poland
Poland occupational exposure Eastern Europe MAC-STEL MAC-TWA UE