2022Hong Kong, September 17, 2014 -- /EPR NETWORK/ -- On 1 September 2014, the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) launched the second 2014 public consultation on 10 potential Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). (1)
The public consultation period will last for 45 days. The human hazard classification as a carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic (CMR) substance is an automatic criterion for SVHC identification. Comments are welcome on the classification as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT), very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) or equivalent level of concern (EQC). The substance application, tonnages per use, exposures or releases resulting from these uses, safer alternative substances and techniques as well as the structure of supply chains are also valuable information. Interested parties have until 16 October 2014 to submit comments to the ECHA website.
10 Proposals for SVHCs
The 2014 second SVHC consultation list consists of ten proposals. Noticeably phthalates are again in focus. Four of the proposals of phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP; please see table below for acronyms) have been listed on the candidate list because of the classification as toxic to reproduction category 1B (Repr. 1B). (2) These phthalates are recommended again for SVHC listing due to the classification as EQC based on their endocrine-disrupting properties. Proposals of polymer aging stabilizers UV-320 and UV-328 are resubmitted because of their PBT and vPvB properties. Two organotin entries, DOTE and reaction mass of DOTE and MOTE, are nominated as SVHC based on the reproductive toxicity category 1B (Repr. 1B). These substances are mainly used as PVC heat stabilizers. Two inorganic substances, cadmium fluoride and cadmium sulphate, are designated for SVHC identification according to their serious health hazard classification as CMR category 1B (Carc. 1B, Muta. 1B, Repr. 1B) and EQC based on their specific target organ toxicity after repeated exposure category 1 (STOT RE 1), in particular on kidney and bone. As four of the ten consultation list proposals have been identified as SVHC, the total number of candidate list substances is expected to increase by 6. If all the 10 proposals are put forward smoothly for inclusion, the SVHC candidate list would be expanded from 155 to 161 entries.
The potential uses of the 10 potential SVHCs are summarized in Table 1 within the latest SafeGuards bulletin. (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/sgs-safeguards-15714-eu-echa-2014-second-svhc-consultation-a4-en-14.pdf)
References:
(1) SVHC Identification (http://echa.europa.eu/addressing-chemicals-of-concern/authorisation/substances-of-very-high-concern-identification)
(2) Candidate List for SVHC (http://echa.europa.eu/web/guest/candidate-list-table)
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