The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) added 14 substances to the list of “very high concern” chemicals.
ECHA increases REACH list of dangerous chemicals
On 13 January 2010, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) added 14 substances to the list of “very high concern” chemicals that require a special authorisation and safety scrutiny following the 2006 adoption of REACH, the EU’s chemicals legislation. This legislation created a list of of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). These include chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects and other serious health defects and which persist in the environment and accumulate in our bodies. The new addition raises the number of substances under scrutiny to 29.
The identification of a substance of very high concern and its inclusion on the list is the first step in the new EU authorisation procedure. Companies may have legal obligations resulting from the inclusion of substances in the list. These obligations can apply to the listed substances on their own as well as in mixtures and in articles. A short summary of the obligations is available on ECHA’s website.
Six Member states – Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands- formed an informal network to try to identify a pre-scanning method to group substances so that Member states can find the most potentially dangerous substances to be added to the list. This effort will speed up the process of including chemicals on the list.
Further regulatory headaches may lie ahead for a number of chemical companies as new Environment Commissioner designate Janez Potočnik said during his hearing in the European Parliament on 13 January that “it is becoming obvious that REACH is not enough” to cover nanomaterials, suggesting that the EU would take action to remedy regulatory gaps on the matter.
For the list of chemicals added to the REACH list and the ECHA press release click here.
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For Further Information
Summary of the obligations linked to the Candidate List
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