The Senate warns of the risks of a European ban on lead for heritage trades

The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) launched a consultation in the spring on the inclusion of lead in Annex XIV of the REACH regulation (which concerns the registration, evaluation and authorization of chemical substances), concerning substances of "particular concern".

The very cumbersome authorization procedure that this would entail, then the ban that would follow after a few years, would represent a prohibitive cost for French companies (VSEs and SMEs) in the cultural heritage sector. Their very survival would be jeopardized in the short term. The senators were seized by the master glassmakers and the national trade union chamber of stained glass, mobilized for the European consultation: "They are legitimately worried, because the manufacture and conservation of stained glass are inseparable from the use of lead", declared Catherine Morin-Desailly, rapporteur, before the European Affairs Committee. France concentrates more than 60% of the heritage of European stained glass windows and is home to the largest area of ​​stained glass windows in the world.

Organ builders are also concerned, as well as organists since this instrument is partly made of lead. Despite numerous attempts at substitution since the 10th century, the sound of the organ is inseparable from the part of lead which forms the alloy of its pipes, in a proportion varying from approximately 95% to 10.000%. Of nearly 1600 organs listed in France, nearly XNUMX are classified as historical monuments.

There is a real risk, for the professions concerned, of seeing catering activities decline or relocate outside the European Union.

The malleability and durability of lead also contribute to the long-term preservation of old buildings. "The heaviest impact would be on all the professions linked to the restoration and conservation of historic monuments" added Louis-Jean de Nicolaÿ, co-rapporteur, stressing that "prevention of the lead risk is a major concern of all heritage sectors" and that "all the companies concerned are aware of it and have taken the necessary preventive measures. »

Aware of the toxicity of lead, the rapporteurs note that no scientific study reports characterized or massive health problems linked to lead among craftsmen and heritage workers and deplore "that there is no reliable epidemiological data highlighting question in France and in Europe the health of workers exposed to lead in the field of cultural heritage. They call for such scientific studies to be carried out with European credits and for a national and European Protocol for the prevention of lead risk on the sites of historical monuments. For the senators, this path is much preferable to a revision of the “REACH” regulation.

Jean-François Rapin, chairman of the European Affairs Committee, noted that "precedents for exemptions relating to the ban on the use of lead for a specific sector have already taken place in certain areas", in particular crystal. The senators therefore plead for a heritage exception in favor of the professions concerned.

The motion for a resolution adopted by the European Affairs Committee will definitively become a European resolution of the Senate at the end of the three-week procedural period. A political opinion, using the terms of this motion for a resolution, is now being sent by President Jean-François Rapin to the European Commission, within the framework of the political dialogue between the latter and the national parliaments.