ECHA Adds 5 New Substances of Very High Concern to Candidate List

On 23 January 2024, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that 5 chemicals have been added to the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) due to their hazardous properties. This means that the Candidate List now contains 240 entries. In addition, the existing list entry for dibutyl phthalate has been updated by ECHA to include its endocrine disrupting properties to the environment.

Substances of Very High Concern

Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) are substances that may cause serious and often irreversible effects on human health and the environment. A substance identified as an SVHC will be added to the Candidate List for possible inclusion in the Authorisation List. Some of the entries in the Candidate list are groups of chemicals, so the total number of impacted chemicals is higher. The Authorisation List has 59 entries. If a substance is on the Authorisation list, its use is prohibited unless the European Commission grants an authorisation for continued use.

Legal obligations for substances in the Candidate List

Under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation there are legal obligations for substances included in the Candidate List.

• Suppliers must inform their customers and consumers if their articles contain more than 0.1 % (weight by weight) of a Candidate List substance.

• Consumers have the right to ask suppliers whether their products contain SVHCs.

• Suppliers of Candidate List substances, either on their own or in mixtures, must provide a safety data sheet (SDS)to their customers.

• Importers and manufacturers of articles containing a substance from the Candidate List must notify ECHA within six months from the date the substance has been added to the List.

In addition, under the Waste Framework Directive, companies must notify ECHA if the articles they produce contain SVHCs in concentrations above 0.1 % (weight by weight). This notification is then made publicly available in ECHA's Substances of Concern in Products (SCIP) database.

New substances in the Candidate List

The uses of the five new Candidate List entries include inks and toners, adhesives and sealants as well as washing and cleaning products. The substances are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT), very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB), or toxic for reproduction. The new entries (and the updated entry) added on 23 January 2024 are listed below.