Documents Ronsmans, Steven 3 results

"Background
Exposure to workplace chemicals can pose serious risks to reproductive health. The European Union's Pregnant Workers Directive requires risk assessments but lacks clear guidelines for assessing chemical reproductive hazards in workplaces.
Aims
This study aims to review how EU member states implement the Pregnant Workers Directive by analysing national guidance documents and relevant literature.
Methods
A qualitative review was conducted, combining a systematic literature search with outreach to EU national experts to gather relevant guidance documents. Thematic synthesis identified guiding principles for implementing maternity protection for chemical exposures.
Results
Two main themes were identified: the need for a broad perspective and for certainty in risk assessment. The broad perspective stresses the importance of considering all reproductive hazards, not limited to those listed in the EU Directive and inclusion of male workers and the preconception period, and the potential adverse socio-economic consequences of applied protective measures. The need for certainty highlights the challenges in reliable risk assessments, due to lack of knowledge about chemicals' hazardous properties, dose-response relationships and the level of worker exposure. These themes reveal the complexity of implementing effective maternity protection and the need for improved guidelines across the EU.
Conclusions
This study calls for a unified approach to reproductive health protection, extending beyond pregnancy to include also preconception and paternal exposures. The findings highlight the need to support practitioners in the risk assess process at workplaces in the EU by providing a framework for the assessment of reproductive hazards and determining protective measures."

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"Considered by many a malady of the past, silicosis, a progressive and incurable lung disease, has emerged on a worrying scale amongst workers fabricating and installing artificial stone kitchen and bathroom countertops. Silicosis is caused by the long-term inhalation of fine dust particles known as respirable crystalline silica. Silicosis's reappearance in developed economies such as Europe, Australia and the United States, with young workers once again dying of this entirely preventable disease, begs the question: where did it all go wrong?"

"Considérée par beaucoup comme une maladie du passé, la silicose, une maladie pulmonaire progressive et incurable reparaît à une échelle alarmante parmi les ouvriers qui fabriquent et qui installent les plans de travail en pierre artificielle dans les cuisines et les salles de bain. La réapparition de la silicose dans des économies développées, où comme autrefois de jeunes ouvriers meurent d'une maladie pourtant complètement évitable, pose la question : où le bât blesse-t-il ?"