EU REACH: new hazardous chemical on Candidate List

The following chemical is now on the Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHC) for Authorisation:

• 1,1′-(ethane-1,2-diyl)bis[pentabromobenzene] (DBDPE) (CAS number 84852-53-9)

The substance is very persistent and very bioaccumulative, and it is used as a flame retardant in various industries.

The list currently contains 251 entries for hazardous chemicals (although some of them are groups so the actual number of substances is higher).

What does it mean for companies?

European producers, importers and suppliers of products containing Candidate List substances must:

• inform their customers of its presence, provide sufficient information on safe use, and notify the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) – under the REACH Regulation
• notify ECHA’s database of substances of concern in products (SCIP), if the articles they produce or import contain SVHCs in a concentration > 0.1% weight by weight – under the present version of the Waste Framework Directive, which is undergoing revision
• Products containing SVHCs cannot have the ecolabel award – under the Ecolabel Regulation

The substance may be placed on the Authorisation List in the future. If so, its use will be prohibited unless a company obtains authorisation for its use from the European Commission.

An updated reference substance package, aligned with the latest inclusion of new hazardous chemicals to the Candidate List, is now available for SCIP notifiers.

ECHA recommends that companies import this package to their IUCLID instances and use it when creating SCIP notifications for articles containing the newly added Candidate List substances.

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