Cement becomes a hazard

Cement will be included in the category of hazardous chemical substances, entailing restrictions on the use of this material and its introduction onto the market, as of January 2007, the Economy and Trade Ministry announced on Monday. It said the Government endorsed a draft decision in its session last week, introducing restrictions on three new chemical substances or compounds, namely nonylphenol, nonylphenol ethoxylate and cement. The introduction onto the market and the use of nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylate will be restricted as of July 1, 2005, while cement will see the same restrictions as of January 1, 2007. The Economy Ministry says this draft was brought about by modifications to the European directive whose provisions were introduced into the Romanian legislation through Government Decision 347/2003. “The restriction targets only those products with a hexavalent chrome content of more than 2 parts per million out of the total dry cement mass. It is necessary to avoid situations where this material may come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin,” explained Doina Constantinescu, an executive with the Economy Ministry’s Infrastructure Quality and Environment Department. ZF