Involvement of the authorities in Germany #TheChromateDisaster

Even though the State Office for Consumer Protection of the Free State of Thuringia has published its own flyer regarding "Chromium (VI) exposure during maintenance and repair of engines and turbines", which explicitly deals with the release of calcium chromate (CaCrO4) during the use of calcium-containing high-temperature insulation on power generators and addresses operators of CHP plants or power plant operators in the same way as insulation companies or service companies, this information should not only be available in Thuringia.

You can download the state association flyer here:

Chromium (VI) expositions on engines and turbines

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Download • 290KB

Flyer Chromium (VI) exposure on engines and turbines page 1

Flyer Chromium (VI) exposure on engines and turbines page 2

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We have promised that we will take care that these warnings are distributed throughout Germany and so we have taken the trouble to find out all the authorities for occupational health and safety and environmental protection that can be found on the Internet and the trade supervisory offices and to inform them.

Fortunately, there is a list of the above-mentioned authorities, freely available on the Internet, and so we were able to write and inform more than 150 authorities and offices directly yesterday, 06.10.2022:

Information on chromium (VI) release on engines and turbines Occupational health and safety, environmental protection and industrial inspection

We have, of course, also included some informative pictures that show the situation on Germany's construction sites in a little more detail:

Cr6 AES wool insulation

hexavalent chromium insulation

Chromium (VI) insulation

Cr6 insulation boat engine

contaminated insulation (Cr6)

Calcium chromate, greenhouse

Chromium (VI), insulation

Cr6, chromate, insulation

Hazardous waste, insulation

For many authorities, this will most likely be the first time they have had to deal with this issue.

However, based on the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances (Germany: Gefahrstoffverordnung, GefStoffV), which will be updated in a few weeks, it is necessary to react; in particular, the release of hazardous substances classified as carcinogenic category 1A or 1B, and calcium chromate as a chromium (VI) compound is such a substance, will be given special treatment in the new version, especially with regard to risk assessments, packages of measures, exposure inventories and, of course, the obligation to carry out a substitution test and, in this context, the obligation of companies to inform the authorities about possible limit value exceedances or to to justify why substitution may not be carried out.

Towards the end of the month, we will ask the offices and authorities what steps are planned.

If you need assistance in your country to inform the authorities, let us know and we will help you with our research.