欧盟Eurlex法规详细信息

5.9.2015   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 233/2

(1)

Paragraph 3 of entry 5 of Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 prohibits the placing on the market or use of benzene as a substance or as a constituent of other substances, or in mixtures, in concentrations equal to or greater than 0,1 % by weight.

(2)

Due to geological particularities, natural gas from certain reservoirs contains more than 0,1 % of benzene by weight but less than 0,1 % by volume.

(3)

The techniques available to reduce the concentration of benzene in this natural gas to less than 0,1 % by weight would entail capital expenditure close to EUR 1 billion and operational expenditure of around EUR 60 million per year.

(4)

A risk assessment carried out in 2013 by the Dutch Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) concluded that natural gas that is placed on the market for use by consumers and has a limit for benzene above 0,1 % by weight, but below 0,1 % by volume, does not pose an unacceptable health risk.

(5)

The Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) confirmed in its opinion (2) of 28 November 2014 that consumer exposure to benzene concentrations in natural gas above 0,1 % by weight, but below 0,1 % by volume, does not pose a risk to the health of consumers that is not adequately controlled.

(6)

The high cost of reducing the concentration of benzene in natural gas to below 0,1 % by weight would be disproportionate and, in the light of the RAC opinion, unnecessary for the purposes of risk management. Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 should therefore be amended to allow for the placing on the market and the use of natural gas with a concentration of benzene below 0,1 % by volume.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 133 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006,