The overlooked ingredient
The expert analysis "The Overlooked Ingredient" brings the story full circle. What began with an email in August 2019 is now described and summarized in over 60 pages with more than 100 sources from science and technology.
Calcium chromate forms in situ, so nobody buys it and nobody declares it. However, this doesn't change the obligations. In Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the sanction is based on the failure to comply with the obligation, not on the actual damage incurred.
The chromium(VI) compounds discussed in this technical analysis have no manufacturer .
Calcium and sodium chromate are formed at the interface between a chromium-alloyed hot part and a basic insulating material, above approximately 300 °C, during normal operation as thermal insulation or as ash residue, e.g. in waste incineration plants.
They are released as dust during maintenance, dismantling, cleaning and overhaul.
A common response to this is that it cannot be a question of hazardous substances law because nothing was purchased, nothing was labelled, and nothing was indicated in any safety data sheet.
However, this is not how the law works, because each of the four legal systems listed below links its obligations to the presence of the substance in the workplace, and each sanctions the failure to assess the situation, not the damage itself.
Germany: first the fine, then the criminal law
The German Hazardous Substances Ordinance lists the relevant violations in Section 22, Paragraph 1. Three of these are relevant here. Number 1a covers the failure to document a hazard assessment, or the failure to document it correctly, completely, or in a timely manner. Number 3 covers allowing work to commence before the assessment has been carried out and protective measures have been implemented. Number 5 covers the failure to verify, or the delayed verification of, the function and effectiveness of the technical protective measures.
The penalty framework is based on Section 26 Paragraph 3 of the Chemicals Act and amounts to up to 50,000 euros for these regulations.
This is where criminal law comes into play. Section 22, paragraph 2 of the regulation refers to Section 27, paragraphs 2 to 4 of the Chemicals Act: Anyone who endangers the life or health of another person through such an act faces imprisonment of up to five years in the case of intent, and up to two years in the case of negligence.
The defining element of the offense is the hazard. Actual health damage need not have occurred. This construction perfectly suits the facts of the case. Occupational diseases caused by chromium(VI) manifest with a latency period of years to decades. An offense requiring actual damage would be ineffective during this time. The hazard offense takes effect at the point in time when work is carried out without assessment and without protective measures.
The recourse, which is usually the largest item.
Section 110 of the German Social Code, Book Seven, is regularly overlooked in such discussions. Where liability towards the employee is limited according to Sections 104 to 107, this limitation does not apply to the accident insurance institution. If the insured event was caused intentionally or through gross negligence, the institution can reclaim its expenses, limited to the amount of the civil law claim for damages, and can demand the capital value instead of a pension.
In the case of a recognized occupational disease with years of pension, treatment and rehabilitation costs, this is the largest sum at stake economically, and it affects the one whose liability towards the employee is limited.
On the environmental side, Section 326 Paragraph 1 of the German Criminal Code addresses the unauthorized handling of waste that is carcinogenic, harmful to reproduction, or mutagenic to humans, punishable by up to five years' imprisonment, and up to three years in cases of negligence. Chromate-containing insulation materials, deposits, and ash fall under this scope as soon as they are handled as waste, and the classification is based on their state of use, not their state as delivered.
Netherlands
Article 4.17 of the Arbeidsomstandighedenbesluit (Law on Workplace Safety) requires the priority replacement of carcinogenic substances and processes, where technically feasible. Failure to comply is considered a violation under Article 33 of the Arbeidsomstandighedenwet (Law on Workplace Safety). The maximum fine, according to Article 34, paragraph 3, is equivalent to the fifth category fine under Article 23, paragraph 4 of the Dutch Penal Code, which, since January 1, 2026, is €110,000. A similar violation within five years increases the fine by 100 percent, and two previous violations or violations classified as serious increase it by 200 percent.
Article 32 of the same law prohibits any act or omission which, as the employer knows or reasonably should know, results in or is likely to result in a danger to life or serious harm to health. The standard is not merely actual knowledge. Pursuant to Article 1, paragraph 1 of the Wet op de economische delicten, this constitutes an economic crime, and in cases of intent, the penalty can be up to six years' imprisonment.
United Kingdom
Regulation 7(1) of the COSHH Regulations requires that exposure be prevented or, where this is not reasonably practicable, appropriately limited; Regulation 7(2) establishes the priority of substitution. For carcinogens, Regulation 7(5) additionally requires containment, cleaning of surfaces, marking of affected areas, and safe disposal in closed, clearly labelled containers.
A violation is an offense under Section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Schedule 3A sets the maximum penalty at trial at two years' imprisonment, a fine, or both. The previous summary penalty of £20,000 has been removed; the current wording only mentions "a fine".
United States
For chromium(VI), the standard 29 CFR 1910.1026 applies, with a permissible exposure level of 5 µg/m³ and an action level of 2.5 µg/m³. For determinations made after January 15, 2026, civil fines are up to US$16,550 per violation for serious and other-than-serious violations, up to US$16,550 per day for failure to remedy the violation after the deadline, and up to US$165,514 per violation for willful or repeated violations. Each affected item may be cited individually; the total amount is not limited by these individual values.
Section 17(e) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act additionally criminalizes the deliberate breach of a standard resulting in death.
What decides the case in a dispute is not the measurement.
The protective measures according to the German TRGS 561, in force since May 4, 2026, already apply if contamination with chromium(VI) cannot be ruled out; prior measurement is not required.
This is the only practical construction, because a negative analysis result on this matrix is meaningless as long as the recovery on the same matrix is not shown.
Insulating material in its used state is rich in calcium, basic, and permeated with soot and oil, i.e., with exactly the substances that reduce chromium(VI) during sample preparation.
What remains and can still be presented years later is the documentation: a hazard assessment that records the material pairing of chromium-alloyed hot part and basic insulation, a carried out and justified substitution test, and proof that the effectiveness of the measures has been verified.
A missing or incorrect assessment of chromium(VI) exposure is not a marginal issue of business organization in any of these four legal systems.
The complete presentation, with wording and source for each regulation cited here, is in section 29 of the technical analysis “The Overlooked Ingredient”, version 1.2, available in German, English and Dutch.
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