First Reach substance hit-list emerges
The European chemicals agency has published a first draft list of substances that could eventually be subject to tough authorisation requirements prohibiting marketing and use unless firms can show there is a compelling reason to allow them.
04.07.2008 |ENDS Europe DAILY
The European chemicals agency has published a first draft list, a so-called REACH hit-list, of substances that could eventually be subject to tough authorisation requirements prohibiting marketing and use unless firms can show there is a compelling reason to allow them.
Each entry on the "candidate
list" of substances of very high concern (SVHCs) has been suggested by an
EU government. The list includes three phthalates and the brominated
flame retardant HBCDD.
The agency (Echa) has opened a
public consultation on the list - the first to be held on the operation of
Reach - in which stakeholders have been invited to submit information on use
and exposure and on safer alternative substances and techniques.
After the consultation closes in mid-August, a committee of EU member state experts convened by Echa will vote on the list. The agency hopes to publish a final list in October. It will be extended gradually as more information on other substances accumulates under the Reach registration process.
The inclusion of a substance in the candidate list will generate new duties for producers, importers and suppliers of articles that contain it. A second consultation and decision-making procedure will decide whether the substance should undergo authorisation.
The 16 substances on the list are
anthracene, 4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane, dibutyl phthalate (DBP),
cyclododecane, cobalt dichloride, diarsenic pentaoxide, diarsenic trioxide
sodium dichromate, musk xylene, DEHP, Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), short
chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), bis(tributyltin)oxide, lead hydrogen
arsenate, triethyl arsenate and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP).
A group of environmental campaign
organisations said the list should be much longer. Industry group Cefic
said the inclusion of HBCDD contradicted the opinion of an EU scientific
committee which concluded it was less persistent in the environment than
previously thought.
* An EU ban on the use of the brominated flame retardant deca-BDE in electronics entered force on Tuesday. The German environment agency called for the ban to be extended to textiles, while the bromine industry lobby group Bsef reiterated its belief that the ban is unwarranted and also published a third deca-BDE monitoring report.
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