ECHA Publishes First Report From its Harmonized Enforcement Project for Substance Restrictions
ECHA publishes its first report into levels of compliance with substance restrictions under REACH.
- (1888PressRelease) March 06, 2018 - The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published its first report into compliance with substance restrictions under REACH Annex XVII.
Published on February 8, 2018, the ECHA report evaluated 5625 product checks, from 27 countries, received during joint market surveillance under the REACH-EN-FORCE project. The project aims to increase awareness of substance restrictions under REACH Annex XVII, with the intention of achieving better compliance and hence greater health and environmental protection.
The product checks covered 14 restricted entries, 17 substances, 1,009 mixtures and 4,599 articles. The 14 entries (Annex XVII entry no., substance, product focus) were:
5 - Benzene: glues for consumers and professionals
6 - Asbestos fibers: in articles
23 - Cadmium & compounds: plastic materials/packaging & other articles, brazing fillers and jewelry
27 - Nickel & compounds: jewelry & metal parts (e.g. buttons, zippers)
32 - Chloroform: glues for consumers and professionals
43 - Azocolorants & Azodyes: textile and leather articles
45 - Octabromo Diphenylether (Octa-BDE): substances, mixtures & articles
47 - Chromium VI compounds: leather articles & cement
48 - Toluene: adhesives & spray paints for the general public
49 - Trichlorobenzene: substances & mixtures
50 - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH): articles for the general public
51, 52 - Phthalates: toys & childcare articles
63 - Lead & compounds: jewelry
Some countries also checked a further eight entries.
The report states compliance with REACH restrictions for the products checked was 82%, 18% non-compliance. The ECHA considers the rate of non-compliance to be high, due to the risk of damage to human health and the environment from the substances under surveillance.
The toy sector was found to have the highest rates of non-compliance, especially relating to phthalates:
Entry 51 19.7%
Entry 52 10.4%
The rates were slightly lower for childcare items less than 10%. The figures for toys and childcare items were considered surprising as the restrictions have been in place for several years.
The second highest rate pertained to cadmium in brazing fillers, with a 14.1% non-compliance rate. It was also found that asbestos fibers were present in 13.6% of products checked, despite the restrictions being in place for many years. It should be noted, however, that non-compliant products were often from the second-hand market and may predate the restrictions. Under the terms of the law, however, second-hand products are not excluded from the restrictions and these products should not have been offered for sale.
Further non-compliance findings of concern were:
Chromium (VI) in leather products 13.3%
Nickel in metal parts of textiles 11.1%
PAH in rubber or plastic parts of articles 7.9%
Heavy metals in jewelry cadmium 12.1%, nickel 7.9%, lead 6.7%
The ECHA concludes that, due to the high rates of non-compliance being reported, initiatives must be undertaken to influence and enhance the responsibility of companies in the supply chain. It is obvious that simply non-compliance indicators relating to REACH substance restrictions, such as look and smell, are insufficient.
It suggests, information about the chemical composition of products must be provided by suppliers, and companies in the supply chain need to have agreements in force to provide information on chemical composition. The ECHA wishes to make it clear, it is not worth selling non-compliant products further along the supply chain.
Finally, the report emphasizes the need for enforcement authorities to continue enforcing the REACH restrictions by analyzing products on the market. The results of these enforcement actions are available in RAPEX.
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For further information contact:
Udo Krischke
Global Technical Manager RSTS
Tel: +49 6128 744 235
Email: crs.media ( @ ) sgs dot com
Website: www.sgs.com/cgnr
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