CEN/TR 15441:2006

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-marec-2007
Trdno alternativno gorivo - Smernice za varovanje zdravja na delovnem mestu
Solid recovered fuels - Guidelines on occupational health aspects
Feste Sekundärbrennstoffe - Leitlinien über berufsbezogene Gesundheitsaspekte
Combustibles solides de récupération - Lignes directrices relatives a la santé au travail
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TR 15441:2006
ICS:
13.100 Varnost pri delu. Industrijska Occupational safety.
higiena Industrial hygiene
75.160.10 Trda goriva Solid fuels
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

TECHNICAL REPORT
CEN/TR 15441
RAPPORT TECHNIQUE
TECHNISCHER BERICHT
October 2006
ICS 13.100; 75.160.10
English Version
Solid recovered fuels - Guidelines on occupational health
aspects
Combustibles solides de récupération - Lignes directrices Feste Sekundärbrennstoffe - Leitlinien über
relatives à la santé au travail berufsbezogene Gesundheitsaspekte
This Technical Report was approved by CEN on 13 May 2006. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 343.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36  B-1050 Brussels
© 2006 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TR 15441:2006: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
Foreword.3
Introduction .4
1 Scope .5
2 References.5
3 Terms and definitions .5
4 Health risk factors.7
5 Workplace related health risks in the life-cycle of solid recovered fuels.12
6 European and national regulations concerning protection of occupational safety and
health related to SRF.13
7 Measures to reduce risks of occupational safety and health .14
8 Conclusion and recommendations.22
Annex A (informative) Further health effects caused by biological agents .23
Annex B (informative) Informative data sheet for transport, storage and handling of SRF (model).25
Bibliography .30

Foreword
This document (CEN/TR 15441:2006) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 343 “Solid
recovered fuels”, the secretariat of which is held by SFS.
This informative Technical Report was prepared by CEN/TC 343 Solid recovered fuel, working group 3 –
Sampling, sample reduction and supplementary methods. It was produced under the Mandate M/325 to CEN
on solid recovered fuels to provide the European Commission with a report on aspects of occupational safety
and health regarding the different stages of SRF production and use in order to decide whether there is a
need to develop a referring standard.
Introduction
Production, handling, storage, trade, sampling or analysis of SRF can be accompanied with certain health
risks, not only by hazardous chemical products, but by biological agents, too. In addition, the risk of
concomitance of hazardous waste in the input material cannot be excluded. These risks will be described in
this Technical Report.
The safety data sheet (SDS) for chemical products due to ISO 11014-1 is a means of transferring essential
hazard information (including information on transport, handling, storage and emergency actions) from the
supplier of a chemical product to the recipient of this product. For non-hazardous substances or products
there is a gap in information duties. Solid recovered fuels are derived from non-hazardous types of waste, so
prima facie there seems to be no need for preparing a SDS for SRF. In addition, the SDS due to ISO 11014-1
would not cover environmental or health risks in the stage of SRF production.
1 Scope
This Technical Report considers aspects of occupational safety and health within the scope of CEN/TC 343:
production and trade of solid recovered fuels.
2 Normative references
Not applicable
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
actinomycete
0,5 µm to 1,5 µm long, gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria that form long threads; their cells are also called
“spores”
3.2
bacteria (sing. bacterium)
simple prokaryotic micro-organism, mainly formed as balls or straight, curved or curled rods, with a width less
than 1 µm and a length of 1 µm to 5 µm, some of them forming endospores to resist adverse environmental
conditions like UV radiation, heat, dryness and chemical disinfectants
3.3
biological agent
micro-organisms, including those which have been genetically modified, cell cultures and human
endoparasites, which may be able to provoke any infection, allergy or toxicity
3.4
colony forming unit (CFU)
descendants of a single or of several agglutinated micro-organisms growing on a solid culture medium
showing a typical appearance in colony form and often in colony colour, too
3.5
dust
solid particles dispersed into the air
3.6
endotoxin
degradation product of gram-negative bacteria
3.7
endotoxin unit (EU)
endotoxin activity; 1 ng endotoxin corresponds to 2 EU - 50 EU, in dependence on the reference standard
3.8
exogenic-allergic alveolitis (EAA)
allergic reaction to exposure especially to thermoactinomycetes, can become chronic or fatal; also known as
farmer’s lung
3.9
exposure risk
risk of exposure to biological agents, chemical substances or other risk factors like heavy metals, dust or fire
3.10
fungi (sing. fungus)
eukaryotic, unicellular to filamentous organism that produce extracellular enzymes and absorb their nutrition;
fungal cells form threads (molds) or chains of bubbles (yeasts) up to 10 µm in diameter
3.11
germ
endemic or opportunistic pathogen
3.12
inspirable dust
particles in the region of 7 µm to 20 µm that can penetrate the bronchioles
3.13
micro-organism
microbiological entity, cellular or non-cellular, capable of replication or of transferring genetic material
3.14
mold (mould)
fungal threads ("hyphae") forming a weave ("mycelium”), which builds up spore carriers (“conidiophores”), that
release the 2 µm to 8 µm small asexual fungal spores (“conidia”), which are spread by the air
3.15
MVOC
microbial volatile organic compounds, mainly produced by molds and bacteria, like dimetyldisulfid, isobutanol,
1-octen-3-ol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methylfuran and 3-octanone
3.16
mycotoxin
toxins formed by fungi, like aflatoxin, ochratoxin and others
3.17
ODTS (organic dust toxic syndrome)
pulmonary mycotoxicosis, non-allergic, also known as grain fever, primarily caused by inhalation of microbially
contaminated dust and under others endotoxins
3.18
PM , PM
10 2,5
particulate matter with a diameter of 10 µm respectively 2,5 µm, summarized as fine dust
3.19
primary measures
serve for direct prevention and elimination of emission at the source
3.20
protease
enzyme which decomposes proteins by breaking the linkage between amino acids
3.21
pulmonary alveoli
terminal parts of the lung, where the gas exchange between alveolar air and pulmonary capillary blood takes
place
3.22
respirable dust (RD)
particles in the region of 0,5 µm to 7 µm (50 % cut-point of 4 µm) that can penetrate to the pulmonary alveoli
3.23
secondary measures
technical, organisational and personal-related measures to reduce employees' exposure to biological agents
or hazardous substances
3.24
yeast
fungal cells forming chains of bubbles
4 Health risk factors
4.1 Exposure to health risk factors
Employees have contact to SRF and its components at different workplaces. Therefore, there may be an
exposure to biological agents, chemical substances or other health risk factors like heavy metals, dust or fire
risk, see Table 1.
Table 1 — Exposure to health risk factors at different workplaces in the life-cycle of SRF
Biological Dust / fine Allergenic Risk of fire
Potential exposure to MVOC/ VOC
agents dust chemicals or explosion
Production yes yes yes yes yes
Storage yes yes yes yes yes
Handling yes yes yes yes possible
Trade possible possible possible possible possible
Sampling yes possible yes yes possible
Analysis yes possible yes yes possible

4.2 Biological agents
4.2.1 Definition and description
4.2.1.1 General
Biological agents, in the meaning of Directive 2000/54/EC on the protection of workers from risks related to
exposure to biological agents at work, include mainly micro-organisms like bacteria, fungi (yeasts, molds) and
viruses, and also, genetically modified micro-organisms (GMO), cell cultures and human endoparasites which
may be able to provoke any infection, allergy or toxicity. As several microbial metabolic and degradation
products are able to cause such reactions in man, they are covered by the defintion of “biological agent”, too.
With regard to a potential exposure at working places in the SRF life-cycle, the following biological agents are
of special interest:
 bacteria;
 fungi;
 microbial metabolic and destruction products:
 endotoxins;
 glucans;
 mycotoxins;
 microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOC).
4.2.1.2 Bacteria
Bacteria do not have a real nucleus with a nucleus membrane and chromosomes, therefore they are called
“procaryotes”. Their cells are mainly formed as balls or straight, curved or curled rods, with a width less than
1 µm and a length of 1 µm to 5 µm. Due to their behaviour in a special staining procedure, they are
distinguished into Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Under optimum living conditions, bacteria can
multiply very rapidly by cell division. Some bacteria form endospores to resist adverse environmental
conditions like UV radiation, heat, dryness and chemical disinfectants. The very small cells of actinomycetes
(0,5 µm to 1,5 µm long, Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria that form long threads) are also called “spores”.
4.2.1.3 Fungi
In contrast to bacteria, fungi have real nuclei and chromosomes and therefore belong to the “Eucaryotes”
group. Fungal cells form threads (molds) or chains of bubbles (yeasts) up to 10 µm in diameter. Fungal
threads (“hyphae”) form a weave (“mycelium”), which builds up spore carriers (“conidiophores”). These
carriers release the 2 µm to 8 µm small asexual fungal spores (“conidia”), which are spread by the air.
4.2.1.4 Microbial metabolic and destruction products
Several microbial metabolic and destruction products are capable of causing an allergic or toxic effect in
exposed people, see Table 2.
Table 2 — Health related microbial metabolic and destruction products
Substances Description
Endotoxins Endotoxins are part of the outer membrane of the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria.
Endotoxins are invariably associated with Gram-negative bacteria whether the
organisms are pathogens or not. Although the term "endotoxin" is occasionally used to
refer to any cell-associated bacterial toxin, it is properly reserved to refer to the
lipopolysaccharide complex associated with the outer membrane of Gram-negative
bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella, Pseudomonas, Neisseria, Haemophilus,
and other leading pathogens. Endotoxins remain associated with the cell wall until
disintegration of the bacteria.
Glucans (1Æ3)-β-D-glucan is a polyglucose compound in the cell wall of fungi and some plants
and bacteria, which is released during disintegration of the cells.
Mycotoxins Some fungi produce mycotoxins which have a high toxicity to humans, like Aflatoxin
produced by Aspergillus flavus or Ochratoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium
species.
Microbial Some micro-organisms produce microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOC). Up to
volatile now, about 30 MVOC produced by molds have been identified. The most important are
organic dimetyldisulfid, isobutanol, 1-octen-3-ol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methylfuran and 3-
compounds octanone. Bacteria and actinomycetes, too, produce MVOC, especially dimethyldisulfid
(MVOC) and isoprene.
4.2.2 Health effects
Biological agents can cause different harmful effects on human health, especially infections. Other effects are
toxic reactions, allergy and sensitization. Details are given in Annex A.
Depending on the level of risk of infection, biological agents are classified in four risk groups (Directive
2000/54/EC), see Table 3. Immunologic deficiencies, pregnancy or lactation are not considered.
NOTE SRF are produced from non-hazardous waste, which normally do not contain micro-organisms of risk group 3
or 4
Table 3 — Classification of biological agents to risk groups (RG) and examples
RG infection/ hu
...