24 May 2022, ECHA has consulted on listing 5 substances as POPs. These substances are expected to be or have already been proposed for listing as POPs under the Stockholm Convention. Deadline for the public consultation is 19 Jul. 2022. Detailed information of the 5 substances: Substance Name CAS Number Possible Applications 2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4,6-ditertpentylphenol 25973-55-1 Commonly used as UV absorbers in surface coatings, plastic and ink additives, and personal ca...

May 2022, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (known as the RoHS-Directive), which recommended to add Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBP-A) and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs) into the List of RoHS Restricted Substances. If this draft is approved, the number of the RoHS Restricted Substances will be increased from 10 to 12. The European Commission is planned to adopt the it in the fourth quarter of 2022 and the restriction measures of these two substances shall be subject to the final decision of the Commission....

On April 6 2022, ECHA and the Member States have assessed a group of 148 bisphenols and recommended that more than 30 bisphenols need to be restricted due to their potential hormonal or reprotoxic effects. Many bisphenols are known endocrine disrupters both for human health and the environment and may lead to exposures to both professionals and consumers. Bisphenols are mostly used as intermediates in the manufacture of polymers or polymer resins, such as polycarbonate plast...

In 2021, through on-site inspection and laboratory testing, Shanghai Customs had effectively implemented the quality and safety inspection and supervision of imported consumer goods at Shanghai ports, and effectively guaranteed the safety and health of consumers. The relevant unqualified cases found by Shanghai Customs in the quality and safety inspection of imported and exported commodities are hereby released. Case 1: Continuous detection of unqualified adult clothing of B...

China has proposed to update the GB/T 26572-2011 Requirements of Concentration Limits for Certain Restricted Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products by adding the requirements on the concentration limits of 4 more harmful substances, including DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP. The revision is expected to be completed at the end of September 2022. As the most common plasticizer, phthalate acid esters are widely used in the manufacturing of electrical and electronic products....

In the end of January 2022, the European Commission has formally voted on whether to add resorcinol into SVHC Candidate List. Results show that most of the member states agree to list this substance as SVHC due to its endocrine disrupting properties. According to the majority rule, resorcinol will finally be added into the SVHC Candidate List. Background Earlier in February 2022, France has submitted to the European Chemicals Agency a dossier for the identification of resorc...

17 Jan. 2022, ECHA has added 4 substances into the Candidate List of SVHCs. The Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHCs) now contains 223 substances that may have serious effects on people or the environment. Detailed information of the eight substances added to the Candidate List for authorisation: Substance Name EC No. CAS No. Reason for Inclusion Examples of Uses 6,6'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'-methylenedi-p-cresol 204-327-1 119-47-1 Toxic for reproduction (Artic...

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (hereinafter referred to as BfR) is an agency directly under the federal government, which is mainly responsible for identifying and assessing safety risks in food, chemicals, and consumer products (including food contact materials, cosmetics, toys, textiles, and tobacco, etc.). And provide risk management decision-makers with scientific advice on avoiding and reducing risks (including formulating risk limit recommendations)....

On August 11, 2020, France published Order of August 5, 2020 to regulate food contact rubber materials and articles, as well as pacifiers for young children (‘new Order’). the main contents are as follows. Effective date This regulation takes effect on July 1, 2021, replacing and repealing the Order of November 9, 1994 relating to rubber materials and articles in contact with foodstuffs, food products and drinks. Transition period Before the new regulations come into for...

On September, 7th, 2021, South Korea's MFDS issued Notice No. 2021-76 with the latest food contact requirements under the nation's Standards and Specifications for Utensils, Containers and Packaging. Overview of the revised content Regarding recycled plastics: The general manufacturing standards and the recycling standards for recycled plastics in the "Standards and Specifications for Food Utensils, Containers and Packaging" have been revised. Regarding active and smart mate...

July – September 2021, the European Commission validated 1176 RASFF notifications , including 1033 notifications on food, accounting for 87.84%; 67 notifications on feed, accounting for 5.70%; 76 notifications on food contact materials (FCMs), accounting for 6.46%. 44 of the FCM products are from China, accounting for 57.89%. There are more details on FCM notifications as below: Date Reference Notified by Product Subject Action Taken Notification Basis Risk Decision 28 SEP...

6 Aug. 2021, EU Commission has released the Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1297 of 4 August 2021 amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards perfluorocarboxylic acids containing 9 to 14 carbon atoms in the chain (C9-C14 PFCAs), their salts and C9-C14 PFCA-related substances. The regulation will take effect the 20th day after its release. In Annex XVII, entry 68 is replaced by the following: 68. Linear and bran...

April – June 2021, the European Commission validated 1120 RASFF notifications , including 1003 notifications on food, accounting for 89.55%; 56 notifications on feed, accounting for 5%; 61 notifications on food contact materials (FCMs), accounting for 5.45%. 28 of the FCM products are from China, accounting for 45.90%. The prime hazards for FCMs are migration of elements. There are more details on FCM notifications as below: Date Reference Notified by Product Subject Actio...

8 Jul. 2021, ECHA has added 8 substances into the Candidate List of SVHCs. The Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHCs) now contains 219 substances that may have serious effects on people or the environment. Eight substances added to the Candidate List for authorisation: Substance Name EC No. CAS No. Reason for Inclusion Examples of Uses 2-(4-tert-butylbenzyl)propionaldehyde and its individual stereoisomers - - Toxic for reproduction (Article 57 c) Cleaning...

Recently, ECHA Enforcement Forum agreed that its major enforcement project planned for 2022 (REF-10) will focus on integrated controls of consumer products. The Forum agreed that inspectors will be able to check whether products comply with many different restrictions for hazardous substances under REACH and POPs. Specific types of material such as rubber, plastic or textiles, are subject to the duties under REACH and POPs. In this way each product can be controlled by sever...

ECHA recommends for the European Commission to add seven substances, including the cyclosiloxanes D4, D5 and D6, to the Authorisation List. Once on the list, companies will need to apply for authorisation to continue using them. These substances have been added into the SVHC Candidate List on 27 Jun. 2018 as the 19th batch. List of the seven substances are as follows: # Substance Name EC No. CAS No. SVHC-relevant intrinsic property Examples of uses in the scope of authorisat...

January – March 2021, the European Commission validated 1053 RASFF notifications , including 968 notifications on food, accounting for 91.93%; 50 notifications on feed, accounting for 4.75%; 35 notifications on food contact materials (FCMs), accounting for 3.32%. 27 of the FCM products are from China, accounting for 77.14%. The prime hazards for FCMs are migration of elements. There are more details on FCM notifications as below: Date Reference Notified by Product Subject...

Asbestos Asbestos is a general term for natural fibrous siliceous minerals. It belongs to silicates. It is a substance with a fibrous crystal structure, containing magnesium, iron, aluminum, sodium and other oxides and bound silica. It is very solid, and has the properties of fire resistance, corrosion resistance, heat preservation, etc., and the price is low. However, asbestos has been included in the list of first-level carcinogens by the WHO. This is because although asbe...

On March 15, 2021, Shanghai Customs held a press conference and announced that Shanghai Customs carried out risk monitoring on five categories of 199 batches of imported baby consumer products in 2020, including children's scooters, baby clothing, baby food contact products, baby diapers, and stationery, 95 batches of unqualified batches were detected, with an overall disqualification rate of 47.7%. The security situation is not optimistic. Among them, 10 batches of children...

In January 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final rules for the control of hazardous substances, in order to reduce exposure to substances, mixtures or articles that containing persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT). These five substances include decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE), phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)), 2,4,6-Tris(tert-butyl)phenol (2,4,6-TTBP), hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), pentachlorothiophenol (PCTP). The rules...