ECHA to Add 7 Chemicals to REACH SVHC List

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will shortly add seven new chemical-substances to REACH regulation’s Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). The comment period was slated to last through July 4, but ECHA says that the consultation period is now over.

The seven candidates for SVHC are as follows:

  1. 2-ethoxyethyl acetate
  2. strontium chromate
  3. 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, di-C7-11-branched and linear alkyl esters
  4. Hydrazine
  5. 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone
  6. 1,2,3-trichloropropane
  7. 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, di-C6-8-branched alkyl esters, C7-rich
  8. Cobalt dichloride

The list shows eight substances because it includes cobalt dichloride. The status of cobalt dichloride is actually up for re-evaluation, due to its revised classification as both carcinogenic and toxic for reproduction. Cobalt chloride was originally identified in October 2008 as SVHC solely on its carcinogenic properties, says REACHtracker.

REACH update

The Candidate List is growing. There are now 46 SVHCs. The next ECHA consultation is planned for August, and that will kick off a busy time as the European Commission expects to have reviewed and listed 135 SVHCs by the end of 2012. The goal is to have reviewed, listed and regulated all relevant known SVHCs by 2020.

In the meantime, expect bi-annual updates to the Candidate List.

Further reading

For more on these chemicals, see Chemical Watch (pay site).

For detail on each chemical, here’s a good page from Safe Packaging.

The Actio chemical databases will be updated to reflect the change as soon as the Candidate List is updated; for now these chemicals are flagged as “probable SVHCs.” Wishing you good luck with quality assurance efforts and product development in this era of digital chemical management. It’s not easy!

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About Kal

Kal Kawar, CIH, PE, has a bachelor's in chemical engineering and a master's in industrial hygiene. His professional experience includes serving as staff industrial hygienist for IBM's New York semiconductor manufacturing facility, and as industrial hygienist for IBM’s US headquarters. Now executive vice president of Actio, Kal taps more than 20 years' worth of chemical engineering, industrial hygiene, and environmental engineering experience. His far-reaching expertise with global regulatory challenges created by EPA, TSCA, REACH, RoHS, WEEE – and hundreds of others – aid in developing Actio software solutions for MSDS management, raw material disclosure compliance, and product stewardship in a supply chain.