ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(80)570
Vol.1980/0183

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenne etdelaCommunauté européenne del'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiés conformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
Inaccordance withCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
Community andtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity (OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocuments inthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung (EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeit zugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)570final
Brussels,10october1980
Proposalfora
COUNCILDIRECTIVE
amendingforthesixthtimeDirective 76/769/EEContheapproximation
ofthelaws,regulations andadministrative provisionsoftheMember
Statesrelatingtorestrictions onthemarketinganduseofcertain
dangeroussubstances andpreparations (Benzene)
/X v\A>l>\
\\l- J\-*'Λ»%^
(submittedtotheCouncilby.theCommission )
IK,.
C0M(80)570final

Expl anat arv r.'emorandum
Τ-
Bonzene isawjoely usee enenrteal substanee ,-fchetoxie preperties of
which are well established .Itaffects the central nervous and .
haematopoietic systems andthere aremany reported cases ofacute and
chronic poisoning inhumans due toexposure tobenzene .Human epidemiologi­
calstudies ,case reports and case control studies now provide sufficient
evidence ofthe carcinogenic effects ofbenzene inhumans ;inparticular
there appears tobearelationship between exposure tobenzene and the
development ofleukaemia (l).
IntheUnited Kingdom ,benzene wasdetected inthe solvent mixture
provided inballoon-making kits intended forusebychildren ,Thelevels
ofbenzene inthesolvent ranged upto40%»and -thefinal mixture used in
making theballoons contained upto4$ofbenzene .Having reviewed the
possible health hazards tochildren resulting from these kits ,theUnited
Kingdom prohibited their sale .Thebanbecame operative on18January 1979 *
TheScientific Advisory Committee ontheToxicity andEcotoxicity of
Chemical Compounds (CSTE ),consulted bytheCommission ,wasstrongly opposed
tothe use ofbenzene inthe solvents supplied with these kits .The
Committee wasalso oftheopinion that ,inview ofitstoxicity ,the
presence ofbenzene wasgenerally undesirable intoys .
Since prohibition ofthese products bymeans ofunilateral anddisparate
measures maydistort theCommunity market anddirectly affect itsfunctioning ,
theEuropean Community must find ways ofharmonizing the relevant national
provisions atCommunity level .
(l)IARC Monograph ontheEvaluation oftheCarcinogenic Risk of
Chemicals toHumans (1979 )Supplement -I-15-24

-2-
Tothisend,itisproposedthattheuseofbenzeneforsuchpurposes
shouldbeprohibitedatCommunitylevel.
II.EXPLANATION OFTHEARTICLES
Article1
ThisArticleprovidesthatanewsectiononbenzeneshallbeaddedtothe
AnnextoCouncilDirective76/769/EECof27July1976(l)ontheapproxi­
mationofthelaws,regulations andadministratives provisionsofthe
MemberStatesrelatingtorestrictions onthemarketingandviseofcertain
dangeroussubstancesandpreparations *Thesectionprohibitstheuseof
benzeneinproductsintendedastoys.
Article2and3
TheseArticlesarecommontoallDirectives *
III,PREPARATION OFTHEDRAFTDIRECTIVE
TheproposalforaDirectivewasdrawnupfollowingnotification received
fromthegovernmentofaMemberState,afterthematterhadbeenreferredto
aworkingpartyconsistingofexpertsinthefieldsofpublichealth,hygiene
andindustrialsafety,andtradeandindustryandafterconsultation with
theCSTEandtheindustrialorganizations concerned ,,
17.CONSULTATION OFTHEEUROPEANPARLIAMENT ANDTHEECCMOMIC.MPSOCIAL
COMMITTEE (
Sinceimplementation oftheprovisionsintheproposalforaDirective
willentialamendmentofthelegalprovisionsofMemberStates,the
Opinionofbothbodiesisessentielandmustbeobtained,asrequired
byArticle100(2)oftheEECTreaty.
(1)OJNoL263,27.9.1976,p.201

PROPOSAL FOR ACOUNCIL DIRECTIVE
amending forthesixth time Directive 76/769/EEC ,
OAth«apprexlfflat Ionofthelaws ,regulations and aArtiini strive
provisions oftheMember States relating torestrictions onthe *
marketing anduseofcertain dangerous substances andpreparations
(Benzene )
THECOUNCIL OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
and inparticular Article 100thereof ,
Having regard totheproposal from theCommission ,
Having regard totheopinion oftheEuropean Parliament ,
Having regard totheopinion oftheEconomic andSocial Committee ,
/
Whereas benzene isrecognized tobehighly toxic andliable toaffect the
central nervous andhematopoietic systems and toinduce cancer and in
particular leukaemia ;
Whereas benzene isused ,inter alia ,asaconstituent ofoneofthe
chemicals formanufacturing toys and inparticular children 'sballoons ;
whereas thewaytheLatter areused makes itpossible toabsorb benzene
byinhalation ,ingestion orthrough theskin ,thereby exposing children
totheabovementioned hazards ;
f
Whereas benzene isgoverned byrules incertain Member States ;whereas thes
rules differ astotheconditions ofitsmarketing anduse ;whereas these
differences constitute abarrier totrad,e anddirectly affect theestablish ­
ment andfunctioning ofthecommon market ;
(1)Whereas theAnnex toCouncil Directive 76/769/EEC ,aslast amended by
(2)Directive ,should beamended accordingly -,,
Whereas theScientific Advisory Committee toExamine theToxicity andEco-
Toxicity ofChemical Compounds hasdelivered anopinion onthematter ;
(1)OJL262 ,27September 1976 ,p.201,
(2)OJL , '1980 ,p.

HASADOPTEDTHISDIRECTIVE ;
Article1
ThefollowingisherebyaddedtotheAnnextoDirective76/769/EEO:
ServiceNumber)71-32-2
Article2
TheMemberStatesshallbringintoforcetheprovisionsnecessary
tocomplywiththisDirectivebefore1March1981.Theyshall
immediately informtheCommissionthereof.
Article3
ThisDirectiveisaddressedtotheMemberStates."7.Benzene
CASNo(ChemicalAbstractMaynotbeusedinproducts
intendedforuseastoys."