EU Approves New OELs for Cobalt, PAHs and Welding Fumes

STRASBOURG — The European Parliament voted on 6 October 2026 to approve the provisional agreement with the Council on the sixth revision of the Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic Substances Directive (CMRD). The vote passed by 499 to 49, with 104 abstentions. The package sets new binding occupational exposure limit values for several high-risk substances and clarifies employer duties for welding fumes and personal protective equipment.

Parliament’s first-reading approval does not yet make the rules law. The Council still has to adopt the text formally, after which it will be signed and published in the Official Journal. Entry into force follows on the twentieth day after publication. Member States then have two years to transpose the directive, with longer transitional periods before some final limit values apply.

Substance	Final OEL	Transitional limit	Notes
Cobalt and inorganic cobalt compounds	0.01 mg/m³ (inhalable) / 0.0025 mg/m³ (respirable)	0.02 mg/m³ / 0.0042 mg/m³ over six years	Skin and respiratory sensitisation notations
PAHs (as benzo[a]pyrene)	0.00007 mg/m³	0.00014 mg/m³ over seven years (selected metallurgical and related sectors)	Measured as benzo[a]pyrene
1,4-dioxane	7.3 mg/m³ (2 ppm), eight-hour	73 mg/m³ (20 ppm), short-term	Binding biological limit value; skin notation
Isoprene	8.5 mg/m³ (3 ppm), long-term	–	Chemical and rubber industry exposure

Welding fumes and PPE breaks

Welding fumes containing category 1A or 1B carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic substances are brought explicitly within Annex I of the directive. That does not create one universal welding-fume OEL. It means that where a process releases a covered substance — for example hexavalent chromium, nickel or cadmium — employers must apply the directive’s prevention hierarchy and the applicable substance limits.

The agreement also strengthens PPE rules. Elimination and technical or organisational controls remain first. Where respiratory protective equipment or other PPE is still required, it must be selected, maintained and fitted to the wearer. Workers who must wear such equipment gain a right to regular breaks in contamination-free areas, with duration and frequency set from the workplace risk assessment. Firefighters and other emergency-services personnel are recognised as needing additional protection measures and sector-specific guidance.

What HSE teams should do now

Sites that produce lithium-ion batteries, steel, aluminium, carbon or graphite products, coke, rubber, textiles or that run welding operations with CMR constituents should treat this vote as a planning signal, not as an immediate legal deadline. Practical next steps while the formal adoption sequence finishes:

Map processes that use or generate cobalt compounds, PAHs, 1,4-dioxane, isoprene or CMR-containing welding fumes.
Review current exposure monitoring against the proposed final and transitional OELs, including inhalable versus respirable fractions for cobalt.
Check that RPE and other PPE programmes already allow contamination-free rest breaks where heavy kit is required.
Update COSHH / chemical risk assessments and training plans for exposed workers, including those handling hazardous medicinal products where relevant.
Watch for Official Journal publication so national transposition clocks can be tracked accurately.

EU Parliament Approves New Occupational Exposure Limits for Cobalt, PAHs and Welding Fumes

What the new limits cover

Welding fumes and PPE breaks

What HSE teams should do now