ECHA Weekly: Our Executive Director welcomes you to the Shaping Tomorrow Conference

REACH

ECHA to further investigate flame retardants

The European Commission has requested us to gather further information on flame retardants, with a particular focus on aromatic brominated flame retardants.

This report will support the Commission in deciding whether to request ECHA to prepare a restriction dossier.

Our report is expected to be ready by the end of December 2024.

Screening report published for four benzotriazoles

We have published a screening report to assess whether the use of four benzotriazoles in articles should be restricted in accordance with REACH Article 69(2).

Testing proposals

We have launched 10 new consultations on testing proposals.

Have your say until 29 February 2024.

Assessment of regulatory needs reports published

Reports for the following substance groups are now available on our website:

If you have questions or feedback related to the assessment work, you can send them to us using this webform.

CLP

New intentions to harmonise classification and labelling

Three intentions have been submitted for:

Second compliance date for poison centre notifications passed smoothly

As of 1 January 2024, all hazardous mixtures for industrial use only, placed on the EU market, must be notified in the harmonised format according to Annex VIII of the CLP Regulation.
In the lead up to the second compliance date, a small increase in industrial use only notifications was observed through the ECHA Submission portal. They represent around 10 % of all notifications covering consumer and professional use types.

Guidance

Updated guidance on assessing persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) substances

We have updated our guidance on PBT assessment to reflect latest scientific developments, revised REACH information requirements and adaptations from the recent changes on REACH annexes on ecotoxicological information.

The PBT expert group, Member State authorities and stakeholders provided input to the guidance.

Examples of weight of evidence assessment

As part of the guidance update on assessing persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) substances, we have published a list of examples illustrating weight of evidence assessment.

The examples are from the Candidate List of substances of very high concern that were identified as PBT/vPvB (very persistent, very bioaccumulative).

The list will be periodically updated.

Updated CLP guidance on aquatic hazards

We have updated our guidance on classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) related to aquatic hazards. The update includes advice on new OECD test guidelines and clarifications on legal issues, such as the status of M-factors in the classification.

We are also preparing further guidance on the new CLP hazard classes, which will be published later in 2024.

EU Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON)

Survey on nano-agrochemicals

As part of our EUON activities, we have commissioned a study on collection and review of information on nanomaterial-based and nano-enabled plant protection products, biocidal products and fertilising products.

Information is now collected from key stakeholders across the EU through questionnaires and interviews. Share your expertise by taking part in the survey. Have your say until 29 February 2024.