Oct 1, 2014

ECHA Announces 80 Substances to Undergo Risk Management Options Analysis under REACH

Stephen Wieroniey-    On Sept. 23, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) released a http://www.echa.europa.eu/web/guest/addressing-chemicals-of-concern/substances-of-potential-concern/svhc-roadmap-implementation-plan/pact]list of 80 substances that will undergo Risk Management Options Analysis (ROMA) under the European Union’s Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemical’s (REACH) regulation. This list serves as a road map for the chemical industry to understand which chemicals ECHA will review for possible addition to the Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) list, which may ultimately be prioritized to the Authorization list.

REACH continues to expand its requirements to impact more and more chemicals uses: ECHA added nine chemicals to the Authorization list on Aug. 22, 2014. ECHA now has to authorize the use of these 9 chemicals.  

One of the nine chemicals ECHA has added to the Authorization list is strontium chromate, which is widely used in coil coating. The other eight chemicals are:
1. 1,2-dichloroethane
2. oligomeric reaction products of formaldehyde with aniline
3. arsenic acid
4. bis(2-methoxyethyl) ether (diglyme)
5. 2,2'-dichloro-4,4'-methylenedianiline
6. dichromium tris(chromate)
7. potassium hydroxyoctaoxodizincatedichromate
8. pentazinc chromate octahydroxide
Additionally, EU member states have petitioned ECHA to add 10 more chemicals to the SVHC list, including:
1. bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate
2. 2-benzotriazol-2-yl-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol (UV-320)
3. dibutyl phthalate
4. 2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4,6-ditertpentylphenol (UV-328)
5. cadmium sulphate
6. cadmium fluoride
7. 2-ethylhexyl 10-ethyl-4,4-dioctyl-7-oxo-8-oxa-3,5-dithia-4-stannatetradecanoate; DOTE
8. diisobutyl phthalate
9. benzyl butyl phthalate
10.   a reaction chemical proposed by Austria