News item | 21-07-2025 | 09:06
There will be a break of one year for certain applications of steel snails on land where there is a risk for health. State Secretary Thierry Aartsen (Public Transport and the Environment) announced this today to the House of Representatives.
The temporary emergency scheme applies, for example, to applications of steel snails at locations where direct contact is possible or for large -scale use. For other applications on land there will be a permit obligation to guarantee safe use. In the intervening period, more research is done into how steel snails can be used safely and alternative applications are looked at.
State Secretary Thierry Aartsen: “For me, safety has the highest priority. Reports and signals from practice point out health risks for people and animals in places where steel snails are used. We cannot guarantee safe use of steel snails with current rules. That is why we now print on the pause -button. During that break we can do good research into the risks”
The reason for these measures is, among other things, the social unrest about the risks of using steel snails, as well as the reports of the RIVM, the ILT and the Court of Audit, which insist on intervention. Signals regularly come in about irritations of skin and respiratory tract, and, for example, nose bleeding in children who play in places where steel snails have been used. It is known that problems arise when steel snails come into contact with rain or groundwater. That is why there are already strict requirements for use, but in practice it turns out to be difficult to fully prevent this contact. The risks of environmental damage are also insufficiently clear due to the use of steel snails. These signals will be further investigated in the coming period. At the same time, together with companies, alternatives to the use of steel snails.
The pause button does not apply to all applications. This way the use in large surface water remains permitted. Research has previously not been associated with health or environmental risks. The same applies to situations where steel slag has been processed into concrete stone, is used as a supply material in concrete or asphalt or is used as a binder with a percentage of less than 20%. The use of steel snails is no risk there. The pauzer scheme comes into effect after publication in the Government Gazette.