What is REACH?
REACH is a European Union regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals£¨EC NO. 1907/2006£©. It came into force on 1st June 2007 and replaced a number of European Directives and Regulations with a single system.
Aims
REACH has several aims:
1.To provide a high level of protection of human health and the environment from the use of chemicals.
2. To make the people who place chemicals on the market (manufacturers and importers responsible for understanding and managing the risks associated with their use.)
3. To allow the free movement of substances on the EU market.
4. To enhance innovation in and the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry.
5. To promote the use of alternative methods for the assessment of the hazardous properties of substances e.g. quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and read across.
Scope and exemptions
REACH applies to substances manufactured or imported into the EU in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year.If imported quantities less than 1 tonne per year or total concentration of 15 chemicals less than 0.1 percent, we could not apply REACH TEST. Generally, it applies to all individual chemical substances on their own, in preparations or in articles (if the substance is intended to be released during normal and reasonably foreseeable conditions of use from an article).
Some substances are specifically excluded:
1. Radioactive substances
2. Substances under customs supervision
3. The transport of substances
5. Waste
6. Some naturally occurring low-hazard substances
Some substances, covered by more specific legislation, have tailored provisions, including:
1. Human and veterinary medicines
2. Food and foodstuff additives
3. Plant protection products and biocides
Other substances have tailored provisions within the REACH legislation, as long they are used in specified conditions:
2. Substances used for research and development
REACH Roles
Almost every business in Europe will have a new responsibility under REACH. There are three main types of REACH dutyholder, which are explained below - you may also wish to look at the navigator tool provided by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to see how you fit in.
Manufacturers/Importers
Businesses that manufacture or import (from outside the EU) 1 tonne or more of any given substance each year are responsible for registering a dossier of information about that substance with the European Chemicals Agency. Because substances in articles also count (if these substances are intended to be released during use), it's possible that some manufacturers/importers of such articles will be registrants.
The registrant directs downstream users in the appropriate risk management measures for any particular use of the substance and responds to other actors on other aspects of REACH. Registrants of phase-in substances should have pre-registered them between 1st June and 30th November 2008 to benefit from the phased registration deadlines. Late pre-registration is now only available to first time importers/manufacturers.
Downstream users
Downstream users include any business using chemicals, which probably includes most businesses in some way. Companies that use chemicals have a duty to use them in a safe way, and according to the information on risk management measures that should be passed down the supply chain. There is also an opportunity to pass information about use back to registrants so that this can be taken account of when assessing the risks of chemical used.
Downstream users may need to supply risk assessment and risk management measures to the European Chemicals Agency if they don't want their supplier to know about how they use the chemicals. Some users may also be importers and have a duty to register.
Other actors in the supply chain (i.e. distributors, suppliers)
Businesses that sell chemicals have specific duties to pass information down to their customers, and also to pass information back to their own suppliers when customers ask them to do so. For more information look at the overview for actors in REACH on the ECHA page.
Practical Operation and Flexible Practice
Because some production request complex making process and high cost, most European importers choose exemptions and avoid to do REACH TEST. In addition, they use AZO FREE and Low Cd standards to import bag product.
SVHC(Substances of Very High Concern) I
|
Substance Name |
EC Number |
CAS Number |
1 |
Anthracene |
204-371-1 |
120-12-7 |
2 |
4,4'Diaminodiphenylmethane |
202-974-4 |
101-77-9 |
3 |
Dibutyl phthalate |
201-557-4 |
84-74-2 |
4 |
Cobalt dichloride |
231-589-4 |
7646-79-9 |
5 |
Diarsenicpentaoxide |
215-116-9 |
1303-28-2 |
6 |
Diarsenic trioxide |
215-481-4 |
1327-53-3 |
7 |
Sodium dichromate |
234-190-3 |
7789-12-0 10588-01-9 |
8 |
5-tert-butyl-2,4,6-trinitro-m-xylene(musk xylene) |
201-329-4 |
81-15-2 |
9 |
Bis(2- ethyl hexylphthalateDEHP) |
204-211-0 |
117-81-7 |
10 |
Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) and all major diastereoisomers identified (¦Á¨CHBCDD, ¦Â-HBCDD, ¦Ã- HBCDD) |
247-148-4 |
25637-99-4 and 3194-55-6 |
11 |
Alkanes,C10-13,chloro£¨Short Chain |
287-476-5 |
85535-84-8 |
12 |
Bistributyltin(oxide) |
200-268-0 |
56-35-9 |
13 |
Lead hydrogen arsenate |
232-064-2 |
7784-40-9 |
14 |
Benzyl butyl phthalate |
201-622-7 |
85-68-7 |
15 |
Triethyl arsenate |
427-700-2 |
15606-95-8 |