NEWS

EU Commission Amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) as regards Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

EU Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) restrictions may extend to rubber or plastic components of specific consumer products as they are being considered as a proposed amendment to REACH Annex XVII, Entry 50. This draft regulation would be amending the additional requirement of Entry 50 of Annex XVII of the REACH regulation (EC) 1907/2006, which restricted in tyres originally. If approved this amendment to Annex XVII is likely to be published in the EU’s Official Journal around mid-2013, to come into effect mid-2015.

This draft mainly includes:
These proposed requirements cover rubber or plastic components in articles that come into direct and prolonged contact with the human skin or the oral cavity, under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, which would have a maximum content of 1 mg/kg (0,0001 % by weight of the component) of any of the following PAHs:
   • Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) CAS No 50-32-8
   • Benzo[e]pyrene (BeP) CAS No 192-97-2
   • Benzo[a]anthracene (BaA) CAS No 56-55-3
   • Chrysen (CHR) CAS No 218-01-9
   • Benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbFA) CAS No 205-99-2
   • Benzo[j]fluoranthene (BjFA) CAS No 205-82-3
   • Benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkFA) CAS No 207-08-9
   • Dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DBAhA) CAS No 53-70-3

Articles within the scope of the proposed restriction include:
   • Toys including activity toys such as swings and childcare articles
   • Sport equipment such as bicycles, golf clubs, racquets
   • House-hold utensils, trolleys, walking frames
   • Tools for domestic use
   • Clothing, footwear, gloves and sportswear
   • Watch-straps, wrist-bands, masks, head-bands

For detail information (Draft Regulation of PAHs under REACH):
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regcomitology/index.cfm?do=search.documentdetail&3xnjTuZwf6uXJAJWLq2GFcoTMUL+8T3tQWz+P4N9LOMxdbQ+AI/X9VTTMRqv00VG