Japan Amends the General Chemical Substance List under CSCL

On 31 July 2025, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), and Ministry of Environment (MOE) jointly announced the addition of 157 new substances to the General Chemical Substance List under the Chemical Substance Control Law (CSCL).

Of these, six substances have been identified as posing significant risks to both human health and the environment.

Previous update (July 2024)

On 31 July 2024, Japan added 164 chemicals to the General Chemical Substance List and identified 3 substances with high toxicity profile. More details are available here.

Classification of General Chemical Substances

Under CSCL, chemical substances submitted for evaluation are monitored for five years. Substances that do not present significant concern following this period are added to the General Chemical Substances List as "newly announced substances".

Notification Obligations for Manufacturers and Importers

Manufacturers and importers must notify METI if they produce or import general chemicals in amounts of one tonne or more per the year.

This obligation remains in force even after substances are added to the General Chemical Substance List, ensuring ongoing oversight.

Addition of Highly Toxic Chemicals

Six of the newly added chemicals have been determined to exhibit high toxicity. These are:

• Mixture of (1-)ammonium diaquabis(oxalato-kappa(2)O,O') oxidoniobate and (1-)ammonium diaquabis(oxalato-kappa(2)O,O') oxidoniobate-water(1/n)
• Disilver ethynediide
• Bis[4-({6-[(prop-2-enoyl)oxy]hexyl}oxy)phenyl] 2-{[(1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl)(6-{[(naphthalen-1-yl)acetyl]oxy}hexyl)hydrazinylidene]methyl}-1,4-phenylene bis[(1r,4r)-cyclohexane-1,4-dicarboxylate]
• 5,11,14,17-Tetrakis[(dimethylsilyl)oxy]-1,3,5,7,9,11,14,17-octaphenyltricyclo[7.3.3.3(3,7)]octasiloxane
• 4-[1-(2,3-Dimethylphenyl)ethyl]-1H-imidazole
• Copolymer of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl 2-methylprop-2-enoate / N-benzyl-N,N-dimethyl-2-[(2-methylprop-2-enoyl)oxy]ethan-1-aminium chloride (It is limited that the content of the components having molecular weight less than 1,000 is 1% or less.)

Publication of Assessment Results

On the same day, METI also released the bioaccumulation and degradability assessment for these substnaces. The complete list of newly added substances can be found here.