Capacity Building for Banning and Phasing out

Asbestos in West Balkan Countries

www.NOforASBESTOS.net

Project funded by European Union

Implemented by: Gauss Institute Bitola

ARC Fund Sofia

Heliks Belgrade

EKOPOT Tuzla

ARC FUND – Sofia

BULGARIAN EXPERIENCE IN THE HARMONISATION OF NATIONAL

LEGISLATION ON ASBESTOS WITH THE 2003/18/ЕC AND 2009/148/ЕС

EUROPEAN DIRECTIVES ON ASBESTOS

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of ARC Fund - Sofia and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union

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INTRODUCTION

Asbestos fibers (chrysotile, asbestos antophylite, asbestos tremolite, asbestos

actinolite, asbestos amosite, crocidolite) are naturally occuring mineral products with a

number of valuable technical properties (inflammability, high thermal and chemical

resistance, flexibility, ability to be subdivided into fine fibers). Their industrial

implementation dates back to the beginning of the 20th

century and has been intensively

developing during seven decades with constant expansion of the volume and range of

production and intended use of asbestos articles. The valuable physical and chemical

properties of asbestos have provided for its growing demand. At the early 80s more than 3

thousand asbestos-containing types of products with numerous applications were known

(asbestos raw materials, low-density composite substances made of free asbestos fibers and

cement, perlite, textile materials, papers, cardboards and high-density products of chemically

bonded or moulded asbestos fibers with cement or polymer particles).

Low-density asbestos products are widely used for:

- fireproof, thermal/noise/hydro and electrical insulations for industrial and

construction applications (cottons, mattresses, sprayed coatings and squirted

skins, pre-formed shells, blocks and segments);

- filters in the chemical and food and drink industries (filter sheets)

- pump and compressor seals, steam pipe and fittings gaskets used in the chemical

and petrochemical industries, in thermal power plants and brake belts for rope-

way facilities, traction engines, dredging shovels, etc. (asbestos yarns, ropes,

cloths);

- Acoustic insulations and fire insulations used in air-conditioning lines, ceiling

and wall sheetings, etc. (asbestos cardboards and papers)

High-density asbestos products are produced and used in large volumes for:

- construction materials for roof structures, interior walls and outwalls, light space

frames, sandwich panels, gutters, gas mains and for water-conduit, sewerage and

hydromeliorative networks and installations, etc. (asbestos-cement boards,

panels, pipes and connectors);

- brake linings in motor vehicles, friction blocks and profiles in machine building,

brake rings for electric hoists, conveyor and fan belts, etc. (asbestos-based

friction materials);

- flange-mounted fittings of pipe mains, boilers, hoods and others in thermal

power plants, chemical and machine-building plants, in ship building and for

insulation in electric installations (Paronite, Clingerite, Beldamite, Marcite,

Asbestos, Navilite, Thermax boards, etc.)

- hydroinsulation construction materials (roofing felts, waterproof oilskins) and

gasket and sealing putties (bituminous products);

- flooring (PVC and vinyl tiles, linoleums padded with asbestos paper, etc.)

Asbestos is a likely ingredient of all fireproof and incombustible materials which have

been produced or implemented before 1990, although its presence is often unknown to the

user.

During the 40-year intensive development of the asbestos industry there have

consecutively been evidenced asbestos-related health hazards for workers, i.e. lung

asbestosis, pleural hyalinosis, pleural and peritoneal tumors. Special concern has been raised

by the more frequently observed lung cancer as a complication for asbestosis patients. Lung

disorders are caused by asbestos fibres which are enhaled and precipitated in the respiratory

organs, but symptoms occur after the elapse of a long period (more than 15 to 20 years) since

the initial contact with asbestos powder. It is expected that until 2030 there shall be about

3

500,000 persons afflicted by malignant diseases among the contingency of exposed to work

with asbestos before 1995 in Western European countries (Germany, United Kingdom,

France, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden). Pulmonary and pleural asbestosis and

mesotheliomas are detected also in persons who have had no professional contact with the

mineral, among the population in regions adjacent to mining and processing enterprises for

asbestos and asbestos-containing materials and articles as well as in regions with natural

asbestos-bearing soils which are available in our country as well as in other countries abroad.

ACTIVITIES FOR PREVENTION OF THE RISK RELATED TO THE EXPOSURE

TO ASBESTOS ON EUROPEAN AND WORLD LEVEL

Prevention of asbestos-related risks has been an immediate and topical polestar of

activities in the Western European countries, Canada and the USA for more than 30 years.

The first step in this direction has been the development and adoption under national statutory

instruments of a methodology for hygienic evaluation of airborne asbestos dust (standard

quotas for the numerical concentration of asbestos fibres and a method for microscopic

measurement of the concentration in the air at the place of work) in the United Kingdom

(1969), Canada (1969), USA (1972), Germany (1976).

The gravity and the social significance of the asbestos problem have initiated the

undertaking of coordinated actions on international level, since the 80s of the past century,

and made it a problem of concern for standing expert groups at the International Labour

Organisation (ILO) and the International Union Against Cancer.

At its 72nd

session held in June 1986, the General Conference of ILO adopted

Convention No C162/86 concerning the occupational safety in the use of asbestos in all

branches of economic activity. Article 10 of the Convention stipulates that one or more of the

following measures shall be provided by national laws and regulations:

“replacement of asbestos or of certain types of asbestos or products containing

asbestos by other materials or products or the use of alternative technology,

scientifically evaluated by the competent authority as harmless or less harmful,

whenever this is possible”;

“total or partial prohibition of the use of asbestos or of certain types of asbestos or

products containing asbestos in certain work processes”. The use of asbestos and

asbestos-containing products shall be permitted “when replacement is not reasonably

practicable, provided that steps are taken to ensure that the health of workers is not

placed at risk.”

Within the European Union, by a series of documents has been adopted a complex

approach to solving the problem by gradually restricting the volume and range of asbestos

outputs and the use of asbestos products for the sake of their replacement by less

dangerous substitutes, on the one hand, and by strengthening the stringence of preventive

measures to minimize the risk of occupational exposure and to protect the ambient

environment from asbestos pollution, on the other hand.

Under a package of EU directives (Directive 83/478/ЕЕС, Directive 85/610/ЕЕС

and Directive 91/659/ЕЕС) a prohibition on the use of crocidolite and other types

of amphibole asbestos and a step-by-step restriction of the marketing and use of

chrysotile and chrysotile-containing products has been consistently introduced. In

1999, the Economic and Social Committee of the European Union issued an

opinion (1999/C 138/09) on the ban of the use of chrysotile and its replacement by

alternative substitutes. In relation to the use of synthetic mineral fibres as a

substitute to asbestos the opinion stresses on the available experimental data

regarding the specific biological effects of some of the products from the synthetic

4

fibre group. It is recommended that toxicological and epidemiological

investigation of these materials shall be initiated as well as development of new

technologies for manufacture of safer synthetic-fibre products. In the same year,

Directive 1999/77/EC introduced a total prohibition on the marketing and use of

asbestos on the territory of the European Union as of 1 January 2005. In order for

the materials of artificial fibre minerals to be classified within the group of

probable carcinogens, a package of physical and chemical parameters and

experimental testing of the biological impacts of mineral-fibre powders has been

adopted under Directive 97/69/EC.

In 1983, Directive 83/477/EEC harmonised common limit values for exposure to

asbestos within the European Union, as well as technical-preventive,

organisational and health surveillance measures, instruments and means for

protection of workers against exposure to asbestos, which have been subsequently

amended to strengthen the stringency of requirements (Directive 91/382/EEC,

Directive 2003/18/EC).

Review of the developments of European legislation related to Directive 83/477/EEC is

presented in Table 1 below:

TABLE 1

Document and

enforcement

Date of

enforcement

Deadline for transposition into

the national legistlation of

Member States

Official Journal

Directive 83/477/EEC 22 September

1983

1 January 1987

1 January 1990 (in the case of

asbestos-mining activities)

OJ L 263 of 24

September 1983

Amending Documents:

Directive 91/382/ЕЕС 4 July 1991 1 January 1993

1 January 1996 (in the case of

asbestos-mining activities)

1 January 1999 (for Greece)

OJ L 206

of 29 July 1991

Directive 98/24/ЕС 25 May 1998 5 May 2001 OJ L 131

of 5 May 1998

Directive 2003/18/ЕC 15 April 2003 14 April 2006 OJ L 97

of 15 April 2003

Directive 2007/30/ЕС 20 June 2007 31 December 2007 OJ L 165

of 27 June 2007

Directive 2009/148/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009

on the protection of workers against the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work (text

with EEA relevance) codifies Directive 83/447/EEC and all its subsequent amendments and

introduces only formal amendments necessary for the codification, the clarification and the

rationalisation of the reports on the practical implementation of the Directive, which do not

modify the law and the practical implementation of national legislation in force.

Directive 2007/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007

amended Council Directive 89/391/EEC, its individual Directives and Council Directives

83/477/EEC, 91/383/EEC, 92/29/EEC and 94/33/EC with a view to simplifying and

rationalising the reports on practical implementation (text with EEA relevance). Every five

years, the Member States shall submit a report on the practical implementation of the

Directive. The first report should cover the period 2007 – 2012.

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Directives 83/447/EEC and 91/382/EEC focus on the limit values for exposure to asbestos

at work and on the manufacture of asbestos-containing products. As later these activities have

practically been banned, the repealing versions focused on the demolition and removal of

asbestos. The differences between Directive 83/447/EEC and Directive 2003/18/EC might

be summarized as follows:

1. Directive 2003/18/EC spans to cover the derogations applicable to sea and air transport

sectors provided in Directive 83/477/EEC

2. Directive 2003/18/EC introduces a ban on all activities which expose workers to asbestos

during the extraction of asbestos or the manufacture and processing of products containing

intentionally added asbestos fibres, with the exception of the treatment and disposal of

products resulting from demolition and removal of asbestos.

3. The set in the old directive separate limit values for dust in the air at the place of work

arising from asbestos fibres like chrysotile (0,6 fibre per cm3) and amphibole asbestos (0,3

fibre per cm3) have been dropped out and replaced by the several times stricter limit value of

0,1 fibres per cm3 as a time-weighted average for airborne concentration of all types of

asbestos. If this limit value is exceeded, it is necessary to identify the reasons for that and to

take appropriate measures to remedy the situation. The effectiveness of the measures

undertaken shall be substantiated before the work resumes.

4. The employers should ensure appropriate training for workers which shall comprise

themes like the properties of asbestos and its effects on health, the types of asbestos-

containing products, the operations resulting in asbestos exposure, the preventive measures

that are in place in order to minimise the exposure to asbestos, the safe work practices, the

requirements to personal protective measures and equipment, the due medical examinations,

the procedures for decontamination and waste disposal.

5. In case the workers‟ exposure is sporadic and of low intensity, and the exposure limit value

is not exceeded, it is not required to submit a notification, to assess the workers‟ health and to

carry out a continued medical surveillance, as well as to keep a register thereto.

Annexes: The two annexes to the old directive have been amended as follows:

Annex I, describing the recommended reference method for the measurement of

asbestos in the air at the place of work has been deleted.

Annex II, addressing the practical recommendations for the clinical assessment of

workers, has been updated by Directive 2003/18/EC.

In 1987, Directive 87/217/EEC has been adopted on the prevention and reduction of

environmental pollution by asbestos, which provides the limit values for asbestos

emitted into the ambient air through sources in place and the method for their

measurement; the limit values for content of suspended matter in aqueous effluents,

discharged by asbestos processing plants and the method for its analysis, as well as

the disposal of waste therefrom. For the provisions related to occupational safety, the

Directive refers to Directive 83/477/EEC.

Intensive work has been done also in relation to the improvement of the analytical

method for determination of the numerical concentration of fine asbestos fibres. The active

collaboration between the International Labour Office (ILO), the International Organisation

for Standardisation (ISO), the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), the

International Fibre Safety Group (IFSG) and the USA National Institute for Occupational

Safety and Health (NIOSH) has led to the development of a reference method for

measurement of the concentrations of respirable fibres in the air, based on membrane filter

sampling using phase-contrast optical microscopy, which has been further enhanced into

several modifications:

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NIOSH Method 7400. Revision 3 (1989)

WHO, Geneva, 1997, Determination of airborne fibre number concentrations. A

recommended method, by phase-contrast optical microscopy (membrane filter

method).

ISO 8672 (1993), Determination of the numeric concentrations of airborne inorganic

fibre by phase-contrast optical microscopy. Membrane filter method.

HISTORY OF THE ASBESTOS PROBLEM IN BULGARIA

Manufacture and use of asbestos

The history of the manufacture and use of asbestos in Bulgaria on an industrial scale

is brief, its offset dating back in the early 70s of the twentieth century.

The significant manufacture and use of asbestos products during the period 1960-

1990, performed at low engineering and technological level of dust prevention, as well as the

numerous, for the Bulgarian scale, population segment (25 000 people) working in contact

with asbestos, delineated the occupational and hygienic aspect of the problem.

The annual asbestos consumption in Bulgaria by 1980 is presented in Table 2.

Chrysotile is an input in asbestos-cement products (pipes, boards, panels), in asbestos-perlite

insulation shells, blocks, segments, in asbestos textile articles (ropes, cords, fillings, cloths),

in squirted insulations of industrial equipment, in friction products, in pressed materials for

electrical engineering purposes, in diaphragm cells for electrolysis in the chemical industry.

TABLE 2. ANNUAL ASBESTOS CONSUMPTION IN BULGARIA (1980)

Kind of asbestos

Annual usage (tonnes)

Chrysotile

32000

(imported mainly from Russia and Canada)

Crocidolite

1000

(imported from South Africa)

Anthophylite, tremolite 7000 (Bulgarian production)

Crocidolite is used as an ingredient in some types of asbestos-cement pipes. The

Bulgarian raw asbestos material is an input in pipeline plumber soils and insulation cements

for turbines, furnaces, etc. in the power industry and metallurgy. The manufacture of

Bulgarian asbestos and the basic asbestos-containing products, as well as the number of

relevant enterprises are presented in Table 3.

TABLE 3. BULGARIAN PRODUCTION (1980)

Kind of production Number of the plants

Mining of deposits of:

antophylite

and tremolite

3 (for deep mining)

2 (for strip mining)

Initial processing of the raw material 2

Manufacture of asbestos-cement 6

Manufacture of asbestos perlite 1

Manufacture of asbestos textile materials 1

Manufacture of friction materials 1 plant and several workshops

Manufacture of pressed materials 3 - 4 workshops

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A wide variety of ready-made imported asbestos articles are used in the country

together with the Bulgarian products (Table 4).

TABLE 4. USE OF IMPORTED ASBESTOS PRODUCTS (1980)

Kind of the industry

Asbestos products

Chemical and food processing

stock filters

Ship-building, chemical industry,

power industry

insulation and fitting materials, some of them

containing amosite (navilite, marinite)

Medical Surveillance of Workers Exposed to Asbestos in Bulgaria

Regulation of the medical surveillance and prevention of occupational diseases related

to exposure to asbestos has been introduced in Bulgarian legislation since 1973 (Ordinance

No 3 on Preliminary and Periodical Medical Examinations of Workers).

A system for medical surveillance of workers‟ exposures has been established, which

comprises 8 regional surveillance and diagnostics prevention service units and a Centre for

occupational diseases as a nation-wide methodological and consultative body. The

diagnostics of asbestos-induced pulmonary diseases is carried out by dedicated diagnostics

commissions for occupational lung disorders, members of which are experts in pulmonary

and occupational diseases and occupational medicine, who are familiar with the ILO

International Radiological Classification of Pneumoconioses of 1980.

Diagnostic criteria for asbestosis, asbestos induced pleural thickenings and pleural

plaques:

Obligatory criteria:

Five and more years of work environment exposure to asbestos or asbestos containing

dust.

Duration of asbestos dust exposure for 5 and more years

Duration of the latency period to appearance of asbestosis - 10 and more years from the

beginning of asbestos exposure

X-ray findings of s, t, and s/t small irregular opacities of Category 2/1 to 3/3+ on anterior-

posterior conventional chest radiography in cases with asbestosis

Pleural fibrosis and pleural plaques on chest x-ray in first oblique position

Low value of diffusion capacity (DLCO, DM) in cases with asbestosis

Low value of static ventilatory parameters (VC, FVC, TLC etc) in cases with advanced

asbestosis or pleural damages

Additional criteria:

t or s/t irregular opacities and subpleural curveline shadows on chest high resolution

computed tomography (HRCT), and pleural thickenings and pleural plaques on

conventional chest CT (accounted by Kraus et all. Classification for pneumoconiotic

findings on chest HRCT)

Pleural echography in cases with pleural thickenings, pleural plaques and pleural effusion

Perfusion scintigraphy in cases with asbestosis

Fibrobronchoscopy with transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB), pleural biopsy (PB) etc. in

difficult diagnosed cases with pulmonary or pleural impairments with histologycal and

mineralogical estimation.

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Diagnostic criteria for lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma:

Appearance of lung cancer in pulmonary area with asbestos induced pulmonary fibrosis,

estimated by TBLB

Malignant pleural mesothelioma in pleural fibrotic area or pleural hyalinosis estimated

according to PB

Asbestos bodies ore asbestos fibers in area of lung malignant process or pleural malignant

tumor.

Data on the registered occupational morbidity rate in asbestos exposure at work The data gathered over 15 years of consistent surveillance of 9142 workers during the

period 1967 – 1982 has revealed 206 afflicted with asbestosis and 492 cases of premorbid

status (1). Figure 1 indicates the structure of occupational morbidity rate of asbestosis until

1982. The insulation and power-engineering repair workers represent the highest relative

fraction (37%), followed by miners and workers engaged in primary processing of raw

asbestos materials (21%), workers in manufactures of asbestos cement (16%), asbestos

plastics (10%), asbestos textiles (6%) and other industries (10%). Within the group of

afflicted with pulmonary asbestosis, 5 cases of lung cancer have been registered.

The structure of asbestosis morbidity

rate up to 1982

37%

21%16%

10%

6%10%

insulation workers

miners

asbestos-cement

asbestos plastics

asbestos-textile

others

Figure 1

The number of newly established cases of asbestos-induced lung disorders is small

(11 ill people). Table 5 reveals tentative data for the overall number of afflicted with

asbestos-induced pulmonary asbestosis and cases of pleural asbestos-induced injuries during

the period 1980 – 2000.

TABLЕ 5 : TOTAL NUMBER OF PATIENTS WITH ASBESTOSIS, ASBESTOS INDUCED PLEURAL

THICKENINGS AND PLEURAL PLAQUES

Year

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

Total number of patients 161 136 201 196 193

These data can be reputed as underestimations, taking into account the great number

of workers exposed to asbestos. The data presumes the existence of high level of concealed

morbidity and affections, which is probably due to organisational, economic and legislative

reasons, as well as to the deficiency in the number of ad hoc experts.

9

During the 80s of the twentieth century, mesothelioma was very incidental country-

wide. For the occupationally exposed to crocidolite workers, mainly in asbestos cement

manufactures, it is expected that the developing of mesothelioma shall be manifested in 1%

to 4% of exposed workers after a period of latency of 20 to 40 years.

Table 6 illustrates the overall number of cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma in

Bulgaria in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1997.

TABLE 6. NUMBER OF NEWLY DIAGNOSED CASES AND INCIDENCE RATE OF MALIGNANT

PLEURAL MESOTHELIOMA PER 100 000 CAPITA BY SEX

1991 1992 1993 1997

m* f** total m* f** total m* f** total m* f** total

Number of

Cases 4 2 6 5 4 9 9 5 14 11 5 16

Incidence

Rate per

100 000

capita

0.09 0.04 0.07 0.12 0.09 0.11 0.22 0.12 0.17 0.27 0.12 0. 19

* male ** female

There is a clear trend of increase in the number, and in the incidence rates (IR) per 100000

capita. The absolute number and IR of mesothelioma cases prevail in male, rather than in

female population. Unfortunately, there is no information related to asbestos exposure in the

cases of newly diagnosed patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. However, the

prevalent number of such patients is from regions with industrial use of asbestos, which

presumes a possible interralation between the increasing number of sick people and the

occupational exposure to asbestos.

Methodology and System for Hygienic Control of Asbestos Dust in the Work

Environment

The hygienic standards for asbestos dust control in the work environment have been

introduced in 1977, on the basis of investigations performed in the USSR and Great Britain.

Their characteristic features are the set limit values both for the numerical concentration and

for the mass average shift concentration of asbestos fibres. Since then, the limit values have

been amended and improved on the basis of implemented hygiene and epidemiological

studies in the country to follow the worldwide trends by adopting the numerical standard

index for assessing the exposure to respirable asbestos fibres and by sustainable decrease of

the limit values (from 3 fibres/cm3 in 1997, to 2 fibres/cm

3 in 1987 and 1 fibre/cm

3 in 1992).

Since 2003, the standard limit values for numerical concentration of asbestor-fibres in

Bulgaria are equal to the ones set in the European Union: 0,6 fibres/cm3 for chrysotile, and

0,6 fibres/cm3 for amphibole asbestos, until in 2006 an rqual limit value of 0,1 fibres/cm

3 has

been set for all types of asbestos (Figure 2).

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Figure 2

The control of the observance of the limit values for airborne asbestos dust in the

working environment has initially been implemented by stationary sampling.

The mass concentration of asbestos has been quantified in relation to the total dust

mass and its respirable fraction under the IR (spectral photometric) and XRD (X-ray

diffractometric) methods developed in Bulgaria.

For the purpose of measurement of the numeric concentration of respirable asbestos

fibres (l5 m, d 3 m, l/d 3) in the country, there has consecutively been studied, tested

and implemented, as a Bulgarian State Standard, the method using phase-contrast optical

microscopy (BSS 16909-89 „Airborne harmful substances in the working environmenr,

Assessment of the numerical concentration of asbestos fibres in heterogeneous asbestos-

containing dust‟).

In the period after 2000, in the course of harmonisation of Bulgarian legislation with

the EU legislation, a new strategy has been implemented for the sampling and evaluation of

air pollution under BSS EN689 („Workplace atmospheres; Guidance for the assessment of

exposure by inhalation to chemical agents for comparison with limit values and

measurements strategy‟), in which the primary role has been given to the measurement of

workers‟ exposure, rather than to the airborne concentrations at the workplace. In this

context, personal sampling has been prioritised. The Bulgarian standard method has been

updated to meet the requirements provided in the 1997 WHO reference method as well as the

validated and published in 1993 ISO standard (Methodology for assessing the numerical

concentration of airborne fibres by phase-contrast optical microscopy. Membrane filter

method, Collection of methods for hygienic surveys of the National Centre of Hygiene,

Medical Ecology and Nutrition, NCHMEN, 2000, Volume II)

The measurements for hygienic assessment of asbestos dust are carried out by the

specialised laboratories at the Hygiene and Epidemiological Inspectorates and by the

laboratory for solid particles in the working environment at the National Center of Hygiene,

Medical Ecology and Nutrition, which is the methodological consultative body of the

national network.

Until 1998, the control for compliance with the regulatory requirements for airborne

dust in the working environment has been conducted by the bodies of the State Sanitary

Control at the Ministry of Health.

TLV for chrysotile in Bulgaria

3

2

1

0,6 0,6

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

1977 1987 1992 2 001 CE

f/cm3

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Data on the measurements of asbestos dust in the working environment (1977 – 1989)

Data on the implemented until 1989 measurements of asbestos dust in the working

environment indicate persistently higher average shift concentrations of fibres for the dust-

releasing operations of all major manufactures (see Table 7).

TABLЕ 7: DATA FOR THE AVERAGE SHIFT FIBRE CONCENTRATIONS IN THE DUST-

RELEASING OPERATIONS IN ALL MAJOR MANUFACTURES IN BULGARIA, 1989

DUST RELEASING OPERATIONS AVERAGE SHIFT FIBRE CONCENTRATION

(fibres/cm3)

primary raw asbestos material processing; 5 - 30

torque convertion and destroyal of asbestos

insulations

4-12

preparation of asbestos putties 2

unpacking and dosing of asbestos materials and

mechanical processing of asbestos products in

asbestos-cement industry;

2-24

dosing, combing, twisting in asbestos-textile

manufactures;

1-8

polishing of gaskets and grinding of waste

materials

1-6

Taking account of the above figures and of the indisputably proven pathogenic effect

of asbestos dust, the health risk of asbestos exposure has become a priority occupational

hygiene problem in the country.

Ordinance No 12 of 1993 of the Ministry of Health on the Sanitary Rules for Import,

Manufacture and Use of Asbestos and Asbestos-containing Materials and Products

The Ordinance has been drafted in compliance with the main provisions of the ILO

Convention No 162 and stipulates prohibition on:

import and use of crocidolite and amosite;

manufacture and use of asbestos materials and products which have safe and available

substitutes;

use of asbestos-cement materials for construction of residential buildings, health and

education institutions, kindergartens, sport and leisure facilities;

laying of squirted asbestos insulations and covers;

transport and storage of asbestos outdoors and re-use of asbestos-containing packages.

Permit regime has been introduced for the import, manufacture, use and demolition

of asbestos materials. Requirements have been set for employers with respect to the

availability of safe protective clothing and dust masks to workers, to the control of limit

values for airborne asbestos dust in the working environment and for emission sources in

place, as well as to the certification and labeling of products. In this sense, Ordinance No 12

of 1993 of the Ministry of Health has stipulated measures for protection of both the working

and the ambient environment against asbestos pollution.

In order to assist employers and importers in their activities to satisfy the

requirements of the Ordinance, as well as to implement the requisite control for compliance

with the restrictive regime for import and use of asbestos materials, the following documents

have been developed and implemented in practice:

12

Instructions for safety handling of asbestos, Safety and Occupational

Medicine, issue No 3 of 2001

Catalogue of asbestos-containing raw and other materials, used in Bulgaria,

Research Institute of Hygiene and Occupational Diseases at the Medical

Academy, Sofia, Business newsletter, 1987.

Opto-chemical method to identify the type of asbestos in the raw materials

(BSS 16910-88 „Noxious Substances. Determination of the asbestos type in

the raw and other materials‟)

With the introduction of the Ordinance a significant progress in the reduction of dust

emissions in key industries has been achieved: measures have been taken for separation of

dust sources by adequate ventilating and encapsulating equipment; for upgrade of dust-

intensive processes by introducing mechanisation and automation of operations; for vacuum

or wet cleaning of floors and surfaces of machinery, etc. The use of crocidolite and amosite

has been banned whereas the volume of the used raw asbestos materials has significantly

been reduced to below 10,000 tons of chrysotile and 500 tons of Bulgarian anthophyllite per

annum.

The measures taken have resulted in:

canceling the output and manufacture of Bulgarian raw asbestos material as well as

asbestos-cement (only one plant is left working) and asbestos-textile manufactures.

restriction of the variety of imported asbestos materials to fitting boards, insulations,

special paddings for the petrochemical, chemical and power industries, and friction

products, designated mainly for the heavy motor vehicles and trucks industries;

decrease in the output of the existing manufactures and respective cut down in the number

of exposed workers;

restricting the asbestos exposure of major occupational categories of workers to limit

values below national threshold limit values (see Table 8),

widespread use of alternative to asbestos less dangerous materials

Table 8 DATA FOR THE OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS FIBRES IN ASBESTOS

MANUFACTURES OVER THE PERIOD 1994 - 2000

Occupational Category Average shift concentration C

(fibres/cm3)

1 2

Production of asbestos

Milling - Feeding operator

Milling - Filling operator

0.45

0.5

Manufacture of asbestos-cement products (plant 1), TT

asbestos dosing operator

fitting machine operator

moulder

pipes cutter and turner

socket cutter and turner

motor car driver

operator of dust collection installations

0.2 - 0.9; 0.2

0.2

less than 0.1

0.4 - 1.1

0.1 - 0.3

0.3

0.2

Manufacture of asbestos-cement products (plant 2)

Raw materials storage - console panel operator;

Operator of asbestos supply bin;

Conglomeration equipment - console panel operator;

Molding line - console panel operator;

Production warehouse;

0.1

0.3

under 0.01

under 0.1

0.1

13

Asbestos-textile products manufacture

preparation of asbestos mixtures,

combing (master),

combing (assistant), T

spinner

weaver

knitter

1.5

5.0

4.7

0.8

0.6

0.2

Asbestos brakes production

feeding, mixing and stirring operator

press machine and forge-machine operator

press operator (small press)

cutting machine operator (small component parts)

cutting machine operator (large component parts)

0.6

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.6

motor car driver less than 0.1

Cutting fittings for the petrochemical industry

cutter (fittings)

cutter (ropes)

рower station insulations

driver-supplier

insulations (mixer)

insulations (asbestos ropes)

0.4

less than 0.1

0.1

0.3

1.4

Non-ferrous metallurgy

pouring (replacing asbestos insulating screens)

masons (cleaning asbestos linings of founder forms)

0.5

0.2

Thermal power plant

demolition of asbestos insulations of turbines

waste disposal

replacement of asbestos gaskets

6.5

0.7

0.3

Closed in 1996

Closed in 1999

The low values of airborne asbestos fibre concentrations are due both to the

undertaken control measures and to the considerably reduced manufacture outputs in the

course of the transition of the country to the new liberalised market conditions.

Along with the control of airborne asbestos dust in the working environment,

monitoring of asbestos emissions from industrial sources is carried out. The measurements

are performed by specialised laboratories within the framework of the Ministry of

Environment and Water and by the “Dust” laboratory at the National Centre for Hygiene,

Medical Ecology and Nutrition. They supervise the conformity to the Threshold Limit Values

for emission/concentration in waste gases/of harmful substances into the ambient air,

published in State Gazette, No 81 of 1991. The limit value for the mass concentration of

asbestos fibres, set up at 0,1 mg/m3, is equal to the regulated values adopted in the EU

Member States. Data on asbestos emissions is presented in Table 9.

TABLE 9. Data on asbestos plant emissions over the period 1994-1997

Emission source Concentration of asbestos

(mg/m3 )

Production of asbestos materials

- stack 1 0.06

- stack 2 0.4

Asbestos cement

14

- dosing line in asbestos-cement pipes production 0.21-0.26

- mixer 0.36

- lathes less than 0.01 – 0.03

- cutting 0.4

Asbestos textiles

- preparatory workshop (I stack)* (closed in 1996) 0.4

- combing workshop for thin yarn (II stack)* (closed in 1996) 3.0

- combing workshop for soft filling stuff (III stack)* (closed in 1996) 2.5

- weaving workshop (IV stack)* (closed in 1996) 0.3

Asbestos diafragms production

- stack 0.01

Plant emissions in the asbestos cement industry have been up to 4 times above the country‟s

threshold limit values.

Actions for harmonisation of the national asbestos-related legislation with the relevant

EU directives

The first necessary legislative step to introduce European standards in the field

of safeguarding the health and safety at work in Bulgaria has been undertaken

in 1997 with the adoption of the Law on Health and Safety at Work and its

subordinate secondary legislative acts, related interalia to the establishment of

the specialised occupational medicine service units. These acts stipulate the

powers and responsibilities of all participants in the work process (employers,

committees and syndicates engaged in working conditions, and all workers),

as well as the functions of the occupational medicine service units, associated

with the establishment of the intra-company system for health and safety at

work, and with the alignment of any workplace with the legislative

requirements, which is a binding liability of the employer.

During the period from 2000 to 2006 a number of actions have been undertaken to

prepare the country for the introduction of the European directives related to restrictions

on the use of asbestos and to minimisation of the entailing occupational health risks:

In 2000, the General Labour Inspectorate at the Ministry of Labour and Social

Policy (MLSP) has conducted a national campaign dedicated to inspection

of the labour conditions of work with asbestos. The results revealed that the

annual volume of imports and consumption of asbestos is about 2000 tons.

Approximately 4,400 workers are directly exposured to asbestos dust. In

Bulgaria asbestos is used year-round by 434 enterprises and occasionally by

another 315 undertakings, companies and workshops, mainly in the chemical,

metallurgy, cement, glass and ceramics, and power industries, as well as by

transport and construction undertakings and furnace-maintenance enterprises,

plumbery companies, etc. Some 128 firms and undertakings have replaced

asbestos with non-asbestos materials.

The inspection indicated also that many employers and workers are poorly informed

about the harmful effects of the work with asbestos.

There are gaps and weaknesses in the creation of the inter-company management and

risk prevention organisation related to the work with asbestos. The number of companies that

have replaced asbestos with non-asbestos products is small (128), mainly firms in the

15

automotive transport and auto-repair services. The permit regime is not observed for import,

primary processing of asbestos, manufacture and use of asbestos-containing products. The

demolition of asbestos-containing structures and insulations is done without adherence to the

due elementary requirements thereto. There is no expertise in the documentation of the

enterprises with granted sanitary permits on the technology-driven need to use asbestos as

well as on the possibilities for its replacement by alternative sustitutes.

At construction sites, in water companies abrasive dry processes with asbestos-

containing materials by high-speed machines is widely permitted.

The mandatory periodic medical examinations are not carried out, the system for

keeping card registries, and for diagnostics and health surveillance of the exposed to asbestos

workers has not been established, as a result of which the country has no real available

picture of the occupational morbidity caused by asbestos exposure. The predominant part of

the occupational medicine service units do not render adequate competent assistance to the

employers on the workers‟ protection against the harmful effects of asbestos.

The accredited laboratories for measuring work environment factors are not equipped

with modern facilities to assess the airborne asbestos-fibre dust and to determine the type of

asbestos.

During this period, the country has been facing also the unsolved problem of the

disposal of asbestos waste. It has been treated by almost all municipalities as ordinary waste,

which posed a serious potential risk for the population in the areas, adjacent to the landfills.

Although the manufacture of asbestos-containing construction products has been suspended

in the country, thousands of residential and farm buildings as well as water supply systems

with asbestos input inclosures still remain.

On 6 July 2000, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP) and the

International Labour Organisation (ILO) hosted in Sofia a national tripartite

seminar with international participation, entitled “The asbestos problem in

Bulgaria” under the project "Training for Integrated Labour Inspection". The

seminar was attended by representatives of MLSP, the Ministry of Health

(MH), the Ministry of Environment and Water (MEW), the Ministry of

Economy (ME), the General Labour Inspectorate (GLI), the National Social

Security Institute (NSSI), the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in

Bulgaria, the “Podkrepa” Labour Confederation, the Bulgarian Industrial

Associaltion, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, and by representatives of

enterprises and institutions.

Participants stressed on the importance of the issues associated with the safe and

healthy working conditions in the manufacture and use of asbestos and asbestos-containing

materials and products. It was agreed to extend the preventive activities related to

occupational risks, entailed by the use of asbestos.

Participants suggested that the Minister of Health, the Minister of Environment and

Water and the Minister of Labour and Social Policy shall accelerate the process of amending

the legal framework regulating the import, manufacture and use of asbestos and asbestos-

containing materials and products in order to bring it into full compliance with the EU

legislation.

The coordination and cooperation between Bulgarian state control authorities for the

implementation of integrated control in ensuring safe and healthy working conditions in the

use of asbestos and asbestos containing materials and products was agreed.

The participants declared the necessity of conducting a wide awareness-raising

campaign about the significant hazards related to the use of asbestos and asbestos-containing

materials at work.

16

In view of the need to develop a national strategy for prevention of health risks

associated with occupational exposure to asbestos as well as the need to draft a

Coordinated Action Programme among the different government institutions,

related to the accelerated bringing of national statutory instruments in

compliance with the provisions of the EU legislation, by virtue of the

decisions taken at the tripartite seminar, a National Programme for Limiting

and Gradual Phasing out of the Use of Asbestos in Bulgaria has been

developed and adopted under the National Action Plan for Environment and

Health, 2002 – 2007.

The programme comprises:

All activities in the country related to the extraction, import, processing, use,

storage and demolition of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials and

products;

Monitoring on the asbestos dust in the country;

Health policy on prevention, diagnostics and surveillance of the health status of

individuals who have been exposed or are currently exposed to asbestos dust.

The program covers as targeted priorities the following main tasks and activities:

The updating of Ordinance No 12 of the Ministry of Health of 19 November 1993

on the sanitary rules related to the import, manufacture and use of asbestos and

asbestos-containing materials and products with a view to its harmonisation with

the respective EU directives, and to the achievement of the main target, set to

limiting and stage-by-stage phasing out of the import, manufacture and use of

asbestos and asbestos-containing materials and products in Bulgaria.

Officers in charge: the Ministers of MLSP, MH, MEW and the Executive director

of the General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency.

MEW and MH to coordinate their activities for the purpose of updating and

amendment of the statutory acts relevant to the ban on import and use of

particularly harmful forms of asbestos in the country.

Deadline: 30 November 2002

Officers in charge: Ministers of MEW and MH

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW), MEW and

MH, in coordination with the respective district administrations, to organise the

delineation, funding and construction of disposal sites for hazardous asbestos

waste in the country.

Deadline: 30 March 2003

Officers in charge: Ministers of MEW and MRDPW

The risk of asbestos exposure and its impact on the health status of workers to be

established as a priority in the activities of the state control bodies within the

systems of MLSP, MH, MEW and the General Labour Inspectorate EA

Deadline: routine

Officers in charge: Ministers of MLSP, MH, MEW and the Executive director of

the General Labour Inspectorate EA

MH, MEW and MRDPW to develop relevant catalogues of available alternative

and safe substitutes to asbestos in order to raise public and employers‟ awareness.

Officers in charge: Ministers of ME, MEW and MRDPW

17

The Ministry of Health to organise the establishment of an adequate information

system for collecting and processing data on the exposure to asbestos, the

occupational morbidity and the incidence of asbestosis in the country.

Officer in charge: Minister of Health

The Ministry of Health to establish the required efficient organisation for

measuring the asbestos dust concentrations throughout the country and to ensure

the adequate staff and equipment supply for the specialised measurement

laboratories as well as their networking into national and international quality

control testing systems. For this purpose, the laboratories for asbestos dust

measurement at four Hygiene & Epidemiology Inspectorates in the country shall

be outfitted with modern equipment.

Officer in charge: Minister of Health

The Ministry of Health to organise and conduct special training for doctors in

occupational medicine and occupational pathology on the issues of surveillance

and prevention during work with asbestos and asbestos-containing materials and

products designated.

Officer in charge: Minister of Health

MH, MEW, MLSP and the General Labour Inspectorate EA to coordinate their

activities for conducting a broad public awareness programme on the hazards

posed by work with asbestos and/or asbestos-containing materials as well as on

the availability and distribution of their alternative substitutes.

Officers in charge: Ministers of MH, MEW, MLSP and the executive director of

the General Labour Inspectorate EA

The programme is implemented by MLSP and the General Labour

Inspectorate EA in cooperation with MH, MEW, ME, the Bulgarian Industrial

Association and with the involvement of “Podkrepa” Labour Confederation.

The overall coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the National

Programme is carried out by the National Council on Working Conditions, whereas

the achievements of the set therein tasks and all key decisions related to its

improvement in subsequent periods are discussed annually.

The National Programme for limiting and gradual phasing out of the use of

asbestos and asbestos-containing materials and products is funded by:

The State Budget,

The Labour Conditions Fund at the Ministry of Labour and

Social Policy,

Earmarked funds at other ministries and administrations,

Funds from international and Bulgarian donors.

During the period 2000 – 2002, at the stage of preparation for harmonisation of

the national legislation with the EU directives, a series of events designated to

proclaim the hazards of working with asbestos and the modus operandi to reduce

associated risks have been held, and measures have been taken to improve the

training of the staff of the occupational medicine service units:

Summary informational leaflets and booklets with applicable measures for dust

prevention, e.g. in activities involving the handling of asbestos in construction,

etc. have been prepared and promoted;

A 27-minutes documentary entitled “Goodbuy asbestos” has been funded under

the “Labour Conditions” Fund of MLSP and has been shot by the film studio

„Vreme;‟

18

In the framework of the programme for a postgraduate training course, according

to the Plan of the National Centre for Protection of Public Health, a training

course, designated to improve the practical work of the staff of the occupational

medicine service units and covering topics such as occupational and medical

issues related to the handling of asbestos, the requirements of Bulgarian and EU

legislation, the safety and prevention measures related to exposure to asbestos, is

held annually.

NATIONAL STATUTORY ACTS HARMONISED WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION

LEGISLATION

During the period 2002 – 2006, the national legislation on asbestos issues has been

aligned to comply with the respective EU legislation in force by transposing the provisions of

the EU directives into several new ordinances, as follows:

The requirements of Directive 83/478/EEC, Directive 85/610/ЕЕС, Directive

91/659/ЕЕС and Directive 99/77/ЕС on the restrictions and ban on the marketing

and use of asbestos have been transposed into:

- Ordinance on the hazardous chemical substances, preparations and

products, subject to prohibition or restrictions for marketing and use,

adopted by Decree No 130 of the Council of Ministers of 1 July 2002

(promulgated in SG, issue 69 of 17 July 2002)

The provisions of Directive 87/217/EEC on the prevention and reduction of

environmental pollution by asbestos has been transposed into the Bulgarian

legislation by Ordinance No 5 of the MEW (promulgated in SG, issue 39 of 2003)

The provisions of the directives on the protection of workers from the risks related

to exposure to asbestos at work that are in force have been transposed on two

stages. During the first stage, in 2003, an ordinance harmonised with the

provisions of Directive 83/477/EEC as amended in 1991 by Council Directive

91/382/EEC, namely Ordinance No 1 of 27 February 2003 of the MLSP and

MH on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to

asbestos at work (promulgated in SG, issue 23 of 2003) has been drafted and

adopted. The threshold limit values for exposure to asbestos as set by Directive

91/382/EEC have been officially adopted in the country under Ordinance No 13

of the MLSP and MH of 30 December 2003 on the protection of workers

from the risks related to exposure to chemical agents at work (promulgated in

SG, issue 8 of 2004). The amendments to the EU legislation, introduced in 2003

by Directive 2003/18/EC and directed to minimisation of the risks related to

occupational exposure to asbestos, have been transposed into the national

regulatory framework in 2006 with the adoption of a new statutory act,

Ordinance No 9 of 2006 of MLSP and MH replacing the former Ordinance No 1

of 2003.

Under Section VII „Health protection of citizens in performing activities

involving the use of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials‟ of the Law on Public

Health (promulgated in SG, issue 70 of 2004 as amended in SG, issue 59 of 2006) the

terms and order for granting permits under the updated Ordinance have been

provided.

The enforced, harmonised with the European directives, Ordinance on the

hazardous chemical substances and preparations, subject to prohibition or

restrictions of marketing and use has stipulated:

19

the prohibition, since 1 January 2003, of the marketing and use of all types of

amphibole asbestos (crocidolite, amosite, antofilite, actinolite and tremolite) and

all other preparations and products, containing them as well as the Bulgarian raw

asbestos materials that belong to the latter category, too. The implementation has

also banned a number of particular widely used up to then materials and

preparations containing free fibres of chrysotile (powder products, dyes, lacquers,

mortars, protective coatings, fillers, adhesives, liquid and gas filters, fabrics, felts,

etc.).

the introduction of uniform specific requirements to the labelling of products

containing asbestos and to the accompanying safety instructions adopted

worldwide and within the European Union by Directive 83/478/EEC;

the introduction, in accordance with Directive 1999/77/EC, of a total ban, with

effect from 1 January 2005, on the marketing and use of all types of asbestos and

asbestos preparations and products throughout the country, with the exception of

asbestos diaphragms for electrolysis plants, which can be exploited until the

expiry of their service life. The use of installed before 1 May 2005 products is

permitted until the end of their service life or until their discharge, but a labelling

requirement has bee introduced.

the Ordinance transposes the provisions of Directive 97/69/EC on the

classification criteria in the category of probable carcinogens and the labelling of

synthetic mineral fibre products.

Responsible for observance of the Ordinance are the entities marketing

dangerous chemical substances, preparations and products, including those with

probable asbestos and synthetic mineral fibre ingredients. Powers to implement the

Ordinance are entrusted to the Ministry of Environment and Water, which in turn

informs MH and MLSP about the information submitted.

Ordinance No 5 of 2003 of the Ministry of Environment and Water

transposes the EU requirements relevant to the protection of air, water and

soil against pollution by asbestos and the reduction of asbestos waste from

activities involving use of asbestos and work with asbestos products. For

activities involving work with asbestos in quanltities larger than 100 kg per

annum, a permit requirement has been imposed. For the construction and

operation of new as well as for the exploitation of currently operating

installations and equipment for manufacture of asbestos products, integrated

permits pursuant to the Law on Environmental Protection are required. The

storage, transportation and disposal of asbestos-containing waste is subject

to a permit requirement under the Law on Reduction of the Harmful Impact

of Waste upon the Environment or to integrated permit requiremet pursuant

to the Law on Environmental Protection. The Ordinance is fundamentally

focused on the warrant of control over the observance of the threshold limir

values for asbestos emissions into the ambient air, which have been adopted

under Ordinance No 2 of MEW on the norms of admissible emissions

(concentration in waste gases) of harmful substances emitted into the

ambient air from immobile sources (promulgated in SG, issue 51 of 1998)

and the limit value of 30 mg/dm3 for unsolved substances in waste waters.

Thereunder the relevant measurement methods have been also stipulated.

The storage, transportation and disposal of waste requires the the

implementation of measures to prevent release of asbestos fibres into the

ambient air and the spilling of asbestos-contaminated liquids, as well as

20

adherence to the terms and requirements for construction and operation of

landfills, which are set in the current legislation.

The responsibility for observance of the Ordinance lies with the entities

working with asbestos. Powers to implement the Ordinance are entrusted to

the Minister of Environment and Water.

The national legislation on the protection of workers from the risks related to

exposure to asbestos at work (Ordinance No 1 of MLSP and MH of 27 February

2003), which is harmonised with EU Directive 83/477/EEC and Directive

91/382/EEC, has introduced rather more stringent requirements for the prevention of

occupational exposure to asbestos as compared to its antecedent Ord. No 12 of 1993:

The threshold limit values for concentration of asbestos fibres in the air have

been substantially cut down to 0,6 chrysotile fibres per cm3 and to 0,3 fibres

per cm3 for all other forms of asbestos fibres, either alone or in mixtures,

including mixtures containing chrysotile. The limit values have been adjusted

to those adopted in the EU.

The application of asbestos by means of the spraying process is prohibited, as

well as the working procedures that involve using low-density (less than 1

g/cm3) insulating or sound-proofing materials which contain asbestos.

The obligation for assessment of the risk has been introduced with

differentiated approaches to high and low risk levels. In this regard the criteria

for low degree of risk assessed have been adopted in compliance with

Directive 91/382/EEC (the average shift exposure to fibres shall be below

30% of the limit values and, for short-term sporadic activities, the cumulative

dose shall be lower than 12 fibre-days per cm3 for chrysotile and lower than 6

fibre-days per cm3 for amphibole asbestos over a three-month period)

General and specific measures, harmonised with the provisions of Directive

83/477/EEC and Directive 91/382/EEC for protection of workers who are or

may be exposed to dust arising from asbestos and for minimising that

exposure, including the demarcation and indication by worning signs of the

working places, the collection and removal of waste therefrom, the

appropriate working clothing and personal protective equipment, etc have

been introduced.

For all activities involving use of asbestos or asbestos-containing materials

the obligation and procedure for notification of the control bodies have been

stipulated.

For the activities involving the demolition of buildings containing asbestos

materials or the removal of asbestos-containing products, requirements for

drafting a detailed plan for ensuring the safety at work as well as environment

protection against asbestos contamination have been set, and a permit

requirement is applied.

A requirement is introduced for periodic measurement of the average shift

exposure to asbestos fibres in the air at the place of work and the PhaCo-

microscopy method based on membrane filter sampling and analysis is

annexed to the Ordinance, in compliance with the proposed reference

measurement method under Directive 83/477/EEC.

Compulsory preventive and periodic assessment of the health state of workers

has been introduced according to the requirements, stipulated in an annex to

the Ordinance, and harmonised with the recommendations of Directive

83/477/EEC.

21

Provisions for keeping company registers of all activities involving work with

asbestos, which shall contain data on the nature and the duration of the

activity and the risk of exposure to which workers have been subjected, as

well as for ensuring access for each worker to the information contained in the

register related to him/her personally, are stipulated. The registers and the

individual health records shall be kept for at least 30 years.

Provisions for keeping a register of all recognised cases of asbestosis and

mesothelioma have been introduced.

With the ban on the manufacture and use of asbestos as of 2005, the measures for

prevention of risks to the health of workers arising from exposure to asbestos at work

have been focused on the activities involving and individuals working with asbestos

materials implemented in the past, mainly in the construction industry. The

substantially changed conditions and requirements entailed from the relevant practice

have necessitated the updating of the legislation pertaining to the protection of

workers from the risks related to asbestos exposure. In compliance with those

exigencies of the occupational health practice, a new statutory act has been adopted in

2006, i.e. Ordinance No 9 of the MLSP and MH. The Ordinance transposes the

requirements of EU Directive 2003/18/EC, which have been further supported by the

codified Directive 2009/148/EC. The Ordinance stipulates the following basic

regulations of the national legislative framework pertaining to asbestos:

Along with the ban on some activities, introduced by Ordinance No 1 of 2003,

a prohibition has been also set on all activities involving the extraction of

asbestos, and the manufacture and processing of asbestos products and

articles.

A significantly lower threshold limit value of 0,1 fibres per cm3 is set for

exposure to airborne concentration of asbestos, as compared to the value in

force until 2006; the threshold limit value is equal for all types of asbestos.

More stringent requirements for risk assessment in the construction

industry in comparison to those stipulated in the preceding Ordinance No 1 of

2003 have been introduced. The activities involving repair, modernisation,

demolition of buildings, structures and installations may be implemented only

after ascertaining the presence of asbestos in the building, its type, the

materials in which it is contained and the condition of these materials. Where

there are any doubts about possible presence of asbestos, it shall be presumed

as present and the provisions of the Ordinance shall be observed.

In view of the significant differences in the degree of asbestos dust released

into the air, depending on the scope of the maintenance, repair and removal

activities involving miscellaneous types of asbestos products, a new criterion

for low risk related to exposure, i.e. the adopted under Directive 2003/18/EC

concept of “sporadic and low intensity exposure to asbestos” has been

introduced.

Provided the need for specific knowledge and skills of employers and workers

in respect to the observance of the strict statutory terms and conditions, a

requirement for obligatory prior and periodical training of workers has been

introduced; the syllabus and terms of the training have been prepared as well.

The requirements pertaining to the assessment of the health status of workers

are aligned with the amendments introduced in Directive 2003/18/EC

The provisions, which have been stipulated in the former Ordinance No 1 of 2003, are

retained as follows:

22

the preventive measures for protection of workers and for minimising the

exposure,

the requirements for implementing control measurements of asbestos

contamination in the air, resulting from the relevant activities,

the terms and order to notify the competent authority about the activities

carried out,

the requirement for keeping a register of the workers‟ exposure to asbestos

fibres.

The order and procedures for granting permits have been also retained while

amendments (promulgated in SG, issue 59 of 2006) to the provisions stipulated in the Law on

Public Health (promulgated in SG, issue 70 of 2004) to introduce the requirement for

certification of the training undergone by workers have been made.

RESPONSIBILITIES, FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF THE MINISTRY OF

LABOUR AND SOCIAL POLICY AND OF THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH

PERTINENT TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ORDINANCE No 9 OF 2006

The responsibilities, functions and powers of all entities and competent state bodies,

engaged in activities directed to the implementation of the provisions of the Ordinance, are

schemed in Annex 1 thereto.

Employers are responsible for the implementation of Ordinance No 9

The training for workers exposed or likely to be exposed to asbestos is provided by

the Occupational Medicine Service units and by company professionals, qualified in the

methods and technology of the pertinent activities and in the measures for preventive

maintenance, and - where appropriate - by involving external competent specialists from the

MH and the MLSP, as well as from firms with adequate subject of activity from the private

sector or from abroad. In the preparation of tutorials, on-line information materials of the UK

Health and Safety Laboratory, like the Final Report on the Development of Practical

Guidelines for the Training of Asbestos Removal Workers, prepared for DGV under

agreement number VS/1999/5190 and issued on 29 August 2001, have been used.

The functions for exercising control over the application of the Ordinance are

entrusted to the Ministry of Health – performed through the Regional

Inspectorates for Protection and Control of Public Health, and to MLSP –

performed through the District Labour Inspection Offices.

The work involving the use of asbestos materials in the construction industry and,

especially, the removal and demolition of such materials are outlined as a priority economic

activity, in the risk aspect of asbestos exposure, in the Handbook of Labor Inspectors (Policy

model for application of the labour legislation, edition 2007 of the General Labour

Inspectorate)

On its turn, the control authority obliges companies to declare each year the work

involving asbestos materials and the measures taken in compliance with the requirements of

Ordinance No 9. This obligation is triggered pursuant to Ordinance No 3 of MLSP of 23

February 2010 on the format, content, procedures and manner of filing and keeping the

declaration under Art. 15, paragraph 1 of the Law on Health and Safety at Work

(promulgated in SG, issue 19 of 9 March 2010 as amended in SG, issue 43 of 8 June 2010).

The competent authority dealing with environmental protection and safe

disposal of waste is MEW;

The competences in the metodologies for measuring asbestos concentrations

and in the training of analytical experts and of specialists from the

23

Occupational Medicine Service units are vested in the National Centre for

Protection of Public Health.

The measurements of asbestos contaminations in the air, resulting from

pertinent activities, are carried out by specialised laboratories: LABOREX

EAD at the Ministry of Health, laboratories within the framework of the

Regional Inspectorates for Protection and Control of Public Health, as well as

private laboratories. The laboratories are accredited to perform control

measurements and to implement approved by the Bulgarian Accreditation

Service procedures for internal laboratory quality control of their analyses.

The laboratory of LABOREX has participated also in an inter-laboratory

compative measurement method tests under the program for quality assurance

of the NOFER Institute of Occupational Medicine in Poland (1997), which in

turn participates in the WHO/EURO reference scheme, coordinated by the UK

Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh. Such comparative tests of

implemented measurement methods have been conducted also with the

"Fibercount Environmental Control" laboratory in Belgium (2009), etc. The

results proved the high level of competence and qualification of the

LABOREX‟s experts.

SECTOR SPECIFIC STATUTORY ACTS RELATED TO ORDINANCE No 9

The requirements of Ordinance No 9 have been further mandated in sector

regulations, subject to implementation in some specific industries, in which the likelihood of

potential occupational health risk of exposure to asbestos fibers at work cannot be ruled out,

including inter alia Ordinance No 2 of 2004 of MLSP and MRDPW on the minimum

requirements for health and safety at work during performing construction and assembly

works (as amended in SG, issue 102 of 2006), which addresses the industry of primary

importance in terms of risk to asbestos exposure i.e. the construction industry. Pursuant to the

provisions of the Law on Health and Safety at Work, the Ordinance sets a requirement to

appoint a coordinator on the issues of safety and health (advisor, designer, technical

superintendent) who shall draft a plan for safety and health at work and shall communicate to

the contractee (the project principal) information on the specific characteristics of the

building in terms of safety and protection of the health of workers. The contractor is obliged

to make risk assessment.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE METHODOLOGY FOR IDENTIFICATION OF

ASBESTOS AND FOR RISK ASSESSMENT OF EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS IN

TERMS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ORDINANCE No 9

For the purposes of the pratical application of Ordinance No 9 a variety of methods,

formulations and criteria from the vast real world experience have been explored and

borrowed.

In the preliminary study of constructions in order to determine the

presence, the type and the condition of asbestos-containing materials,

including the sampling for testing of materials, the basic provisions that are

used are the ones of Methods for the Determination of Hazardous

Substances (the MDHS series) of the UK Health and Safety Laboratory,

namely MDHS100 “Surveying, sampling and assessment of asbestos-

containing materials” of 2001.

24

For the identification of asbestos in materials, the polarised-light

microscopy method is adapted, by conducting due lab tests in the leading

country laboratory of LABOREX EAD (formerly a laboratory at NCPPH),

which has been taken from MDHS77 „Asbestos in bulk materials:

Sampling and identification by polarised light microscopy (PLM)” of the

UK Health and Safety Laboratory. To meet the country's needs, relevant

laboratory facilities have been provided under a PHARE project in order to

equip laboratories at four Regional Inspectorates for Protection and

Control of Public Health (RIPCPH). At this stage, training courses are held

by leading specialists of LABOREX EAD for experts from RIPCPH in

order for the latter to acquire the necessary vocational qualification.

To determine the cases of “sporadic and low intensity exposure”, the

complex criterion has been adopted as recommended in the publication of

the UK Health and Safety Executive “Work with materials containing

asbestos. Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. Approved Code of

Practice and guidance (Series code: L143, ISBN: 978 0 7176 6206 7). The

publication is available online1. The criterion provides the following

conditions:

The risk assessment shall clearly indicate that the workers have

been exposed to concentrations of asbestos in the ambient air lower

than of 0.1 fibres per cm3 over a period of 4 hours;

The peak admissible transient concentration is 0.6 fibres per cm3

for all types of asbestos fibres over a maximum period of 10

minutes;

The work shall be sporadic and shall be carried once within a

period of at least 7 days.

Provided that good operational practices are implemented (effective engineering and

technological level of dust prevention) and all provisions of the criterion have been satisfied,

the following activities may be ranked to the group of activities with low risk of exposure:

removal, without deterioration of non-degraded materials in which the

asbestos fibres are firmly linked in a matrix (for example, asbestos-

cement materials)

encapsulation or sealing of asbestos-containing materials which are in

good condition

short, non-continuous maintenance activities in which only non-friable

materials are used, as well as air monitoring and control activities and

collection of samples for asbestos identification.

Example: The repair works to eliminate leaks in asbestos-cement water pipes are not

comprised in the cases of "sporadic and low intensity exposure", when they are performed in

ditches with the use of high-speed cutting tools. These activities are short-term and are

carried out sporadically, but data from measurements of airborne concentration of asbestos

fibres at work indicate a higher concentration than 0,6 fibres per cm3 for a period of 10

minutes, whereas the usual concentration observed is 1 fibre per cm3.

To assist employers and Occupational Medicine Service units in their activities to

achieve compliance with the Ordinance, the preparation of an adequate methodological

instruction for determining “sporadic and low intensity” exposures is comprised in the current

annual plan of NCPPH.

1 http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l143.pdf

25

In compliance with Directive 2009/148/EC, the reference method of the

WHO is used to determine the numerical concentration of asbestos fibres

in the ambient air.

Where asbestos materials are removed, stationary measurements are

applied to control the observance of the limit value of 0,01 fibres per cm3

for airborne concentration of asbestos, which is generally accepted in

practice as an indicator of air purity, with regard to:

the integrity and impermeability of fencings surrounding the working site;

the purity of air inside the working site after completion of the activities

and visual inspection of the cleaned site;

background level of airborne asbestos fibre concentrations before and after

removal of the fencings;

The sampling arrangements are taken from the method of the UK Health and Safety

Laboratory, as described in MDHS 39/42 “Asbestos fibres in air. Sampling and evaluation by

Phase Contrast Microscopy (PCM) under the Control of asbestos at work Regulations”,

November 1995.

The results of control measurements of activities involving removal of asbestos-

containing materials, mainly industrial insulations, conducted during the period 2008 - 2009

by LABOREX on 70 working sites give grounds for positive appraisal of the measures for

dust prevention implemented in 90% of the inspected sites in terms of integrity and

impermeability of the fencing as well as effective operations for after-work cleaning of the

site. The number of registered cases of non-observance of the threshold limit value for air

purity is small and the exceedings are insignificant.

In conclusion, Bulgarian legislative acts pertaining to the protection of workers from

the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work have been harmonised with the EU

legislation, adequate structures at company level have been established to implement the

ordinances and a system for control of the compliance with the regulatory requirements has

been constituted (government control bodies and specialised laboratories for testing materials

and for monitoring the asbestos concentration in the air of the working area). The extraction,

manufacture and use of asbestos and asbestos-containing products in the country have been

terminated, as a result of which the number of workers exposed or likely to be exposed to

asbestos has significantly decreased.

With regard to the adherence to the regulatory requirements, a number of gaps in

construction repair and removal works made predominantly by small enterprises –

subcontractors or self-employed, which are due to the insufficient level of awareness and

training of the persons entrusted to achieve compliance with the ordinances, still exist. To

obviate such failings are required coordinated actions by MLSP, MH, MRDPW, the Chamber

of Commerce and the trade unions in order to involve in the established occupational training

system all persons, who are likely to come into contact with asbestos materials in

construction works, as well as a broad awareness raising media campaign to draw the public

attention on the hazards related to asbestos.

ANNEXES:

1. Flowchart of the responsibilities, functions and interrelations between companies and

institutional bodies according to the provisions of Ordinance No 9 of 2006.

2. Bulgarian legislative framework pertaining to asbestos 2 http://www.oilfieldmag.com/hse/mdhs39-4.pdf

26

Employer: bears the overall responsibility for the company activities related to implementation of the Ordinance

Keeps register of

workers and their

exposure to asbestos

Files applications to the

competent body for

receiving permits for

removal and demolition

of asbestos

Notifies the

competent bodies

about activites

involving asbestos

Works in cooperation with:

Committees/Groups

on working conditions

Occupational Medicine

Service (OMS) units

Regional Inspectorates

for Protection and

Control of Public Health

(RIPCPH) - Ministry of

Health

District Labour

Inspection Offices,

control bodies

Assesses the health status of workers

Keeps individual health record of

workers

Provides training

Provides consultations on measures

for safety and prevention

Submits, on an annual

basis, information on the

register entries to the

competent bodies

Coordinates the granting of permits to

applicants with the Regional Inspectorates

of Environment and Water (RIEW)

Grant permits

National Centre for

Protection of Public Health

(NCPPH) - Ministry of Health

Keeps the register of

recognised cases of

asbestosis and

mesothelioma

Provides training to the Occupational

Medicine Service units, to experts

from the Regional Inspectorates for

Protection and Control of Public Health, to

employers and workers

Provides

consultations on

the

implementation of

the Ordinance

Annex 1

27

ANNEX 2

BULGARIAN LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK PERTAINING TO ASBESTOS

Main statutory acts pertaining to ensuring safety and health at work

Labour Code (promulgated in State Gazette, issue 26 of 1 April 1986, and in SG, issue

27 of 4 April 1986)

Law on Health and Safety at Work (promulgated in SG, issue 124 of 1997 and amended

in SG, issue 108 of 2008)

(Ordinance No 9 is issued pursuant to art. 36, item 2 of the Law)

Law on Protection against the Harmful Impact of Chemical Substances, Preparations

and Products (promulgated in SG, issue 10 of 4 February 2000, amended in SG, issue

114 of 2003)

Ordinance on the order for reporting, registration, verification, appeal and

accountability of occupational diseases, adopted by Decree No 79 of the Council of

Ministers of 2001 (promulgated in SG, issue 33 of 2001)

Ordinance No 3 of MLSP of 23 February 2010 on the format, content, order and

manner of filing and keeping declarations under article 15, paragraph 1 of the Law on

Health and Safety at Work (promulgated in SG, issue 19 of 9 March 2010; Part III

ASBESTOS, amended in SG, issue 43 of 8 June 2010)

Ordinance No 5 of MLSP and MH of 11 May 1999 on the order, manner and regularity

of risk assessments (promulgated in SG, issue 47 of 21 May 1999)

The Ordinance is issued pursuant to art.17 of the Law on Health and Safety at Work.

The General Labour Inspectorate is the body empowered to control its implementation.

Ordinance No 13 of 24 July 1992 on the threshold limit values for concentration of

hazardous substances in the ambient air (promulgated in SG, issue 81 of 1992)

Ordinance No 3 on the mandatory preliminary and periodical medical examinations of

workers (promulgated in SG, issue 16 of 27 February 1987)

Ordinance No 3 of 14 May 1996 on instructing workers and employees on safety,

hygiene and fire protection at work (promulgated in SG, issue 44 of 21 May 1996)

Ordinance No 3 of 27 July 1998 on the functions and tasks of officers and of specialised

services in enterprises for organising the performance of activities related to safety and

prevention of occupational risks (promulgated in SG, issue 91 of 5 August 1998)

Ordinance No 3 of 19 April 2001 on the minimum requirements for protecting the

safety and health of workers by the use of personal protective equipment at the

workplace (promulgated in SG, issue 46 of 15 May 2001)

Ordinance No 3 of 25 January 2008 on the terms and order of performing the activities

of the occupational medicine service units (promulgated in SG, No 46 of 15 May 2001)

Ordinance No 4 of 2 August 1995 on the signs and signals for safety and fire protection

at work (promulgated in SG, issue 77 of 1 September 1995)

Ordinance No 7 of 23 September 1999 on the minimum requirements for healthy and

safe working conditions at workplaces during the use of operational equipment

(promulgated in SG, issue 88 of 7 October 1999)

BSS 16608-87: Hazardous substances. Threshold limit values for airborne

concentration in the working environment

Ordinance No 4 of 3 November 1998 on the training of representatives in Committees

and Groups on working conditions in enterprises (promulgated in SG, issue 133 of 11

November 1998)

28

Ordinance 15 of 31 May 1999 on the terms, order and requirements for elaboration and

implementation of physiological patterns of work and breaks during work (promulgated

in SG, issue 54 of 15 June 1999)

Ordinance No I - 209 of 22 November 2004 on the rules and standards for fire and

emergency safety of objects in operation (promulgated in SG, issue 107 of 7 December

2004)

Main statutory acts pertaining to the protection of workers from the risks related to

exposure to asbestos at work

Law on Public Health, Chapter 2, Section VII: Protection of citizens‟ health during

performing activities involving the use of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials

(promulgated in SG, issue 70 of 2004). Section VII has been introduced by the Law on

amendment of the Law on Public Health (promulgated in SG, issue 59 of 13 July 2006)

Ordinance No 12 of MH of 14 October 1993 on the sanitary rules for import,

manufacture and use of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials and products

(promulgated in SG, No 98 of 1993). The Ordinance is issued pursuant to §2 of the

Final Provisions in relation to art.20 of the Law on Public Health.

Ordinance for amendment of Ordinance No 12 of MH of 14 October 1993 on the

sanitary rules for import, manufacture and use of asbestos and asbestos-containing

materials and products (promulgated in SG, issue 83 of 19 September 2003). The title

of Ordinance No 12 has been changed to “Ordinance on the order and manner of import

of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials and products on the territory of the

Republic of Bulgaria”

Ordinance No 1 of 27 February 2003 on the protection of workers against the risks,

related to exposure to asbestos at work (promulgated in SG, issue 32 of 2003). The

Ordinance is issued pursuant to art. 276, paragraph 1 of the Labour Code.

Ordinance No 9 of 4 August 2006 on the protection of workers against the risks, related

to exposure to asbestos at work (promulgated in SG, issue 71 of 2006). The Ordinance

repeals Ordinance No 1 of 2003 (promulgated in SG, issue 32 of 2003). The Ordinance

is issued pursuant to art.36, item 2 of the Law on Health and Safety at Work

(promulgated in SG, issue 124 of 1997). It encompasses also the conditions and order of

occupational training of workers and employees.

Ordinance No 9 of 23 September 2004 on ensuring health and safety at work during the

exploitation and maintenance of water-supply and sewerage systems (promulgated in

SG, issue 93 of 19 October 2004)

Ordinance No 10 of 26 September 2003 on the protection of workers against the risks,

related to exposure to carcinogens and mutagens at work (promulgated in SG, issue 94

of 24 October 2003)

Ordinance No 2 on the minimum requirements for healthy and safe working conditions

during performing construction and assembly works (promulgated in SG, issue 37 of 4

May 2004)

Main statutory acts pertaining to environmental protection against pollution

Law on Environmental Protection (promulgated in SG, issue 91 of 2002, as amended in

SG, issue 70 of 2004), Section VIII “Prevention of Environmental Pollution by

Asbestos and Mercury” of Chapter 3

29

Law on Clean Ambient Air (promulgated in SG, issue 45 of 1996, amended in SG,

issues 91 of 2002 and 112 of 2003)

Law on Waters (promulgated in SG, issue67 of 1999)

Law on Protection against the Harmful Impact of Chemical Substances, Preparations

and Products (promulgated in SG, issue 10 of 4 February 2000, amended in SG, issue

114 of 2003)

Law on Reduction of the Harmful Impact of Waste upon the Environment (promulgated

in SG, issue 86 of 1997); the treatment of asbestos waste stipulated in Ordinance No 1

of 2003, Section VI, art.15, item 7 shall be implemented according to the provisions of

the law.

Law on Waste Management (promulgated in SG, issue 86 of 2003, amended in SG,

issue 70 of 2004)

Law on Spatial Planning (promulgated in SG, issue 1 of 2001)

Ordinance on the hazardous chemical substances, preparations and products subject to

ban or restriction on marketing and use, adopted by Decree No 130 of the Council of

Ministers of 1 July 2002 (promulgated in SG, issue 69 of 17 July 2002)

Ordinance on the order and manner of import and export of hazardous chemical

substances, preparations and products on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria,

adopted by Decree No 129 of the Council of Ministers of 1 July 2002 (promulgated in

SG, issue 66 of 2002), wherewith Ordinance No 12 of the Council of Ministers of 1999

has been repealed, under which the regime of handling hazardous substances has

formerly been stipulated (promulgated in SG, issue 10 of 1999 as amended later in SG,

issue 3 of 2000 and issue 4 of 2001).

Ordinance on the order and manner of classification, packaging, and labelling of

existing and new chemical substances, preparations and products, adopted by Decree

No. 316 of the Council of Ministers of 20 December 2002 (promulgated in SG, issue 2

of 2003). The ordinance was adopted pursuant to art.5, paragraph 2 of the Law on

Protection against the Harmful Impact of Chemical Substances, Preparations and

Products.

Ordinance No 5 of MEW of 15 April 2005 on the prevention and reduction of

environmental pollution by asbestos (promulgated in SG, issue 39 of 2003). The

ordinance is adopted pursuant to §5 of the Law on Clean Ambient Air (promulgated in

SG, issue 45 of 1996) in relation to art.117 of the Law on Environmental Protection

(promulgated in SG, issue 91 of 2002), art.135, item 13 of the Law on Waters

(promulgated in SG, issue 67 of 1999) and articles 15 and 37 of the Law on Reduction

of the Harmful Impact of Waste upon the Environment (promulgated in SG, issue 86 of

1997)

Ordinance No 2 of MEW, the Ministry of Justice, MRDPW and MH of 19 February

1998 on the standard values for admissible emissions (concentrations in waste gases) of

hazardous substances emitted in the ambient air from immobile sources (promulgated in

SG, issue 51 of 1998, amended in SG issues 34 of 1999, 73 of 1999, 93 of 2003).

According to art. 21(1) fine asbestos dust of category 1 cannot exceed the concentration

of 0,1 mg/m3 at a mass flow of 0,5 g/h.

Ordinance No 7 of 25 May 1992 on the hygienic requirements for health protection of

habitation environment (promulgated in SG, issue 46 of 1992, amended in SG, issues

46 of 1994, 89 and 101 of 1996, 101 of 1996, 101 of 1997, 20 of 1999)

30

Ordinance No 3 of 1 April 2004 on the classification of waste (promulgated in SG,

issue 44 of 2004). The Ordinance stipulates the conditions and procedures for

classification of waste by type and properties.

Ordinance №8 of 24 August 2004 on the conditions and requirements for construction

and operation of landfills and other facilities and installations for waste disposal and

recovery (promulgated in SG, issue 83 of 2004)