Eight New Chemicals for REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern

Background:
The identification of a substance as Substance of Very High Concern and its inclusion in the Candidate List is the first step of the authorisation procedure. Companies may have immediate legal obligations following such inclusion which are linked to the listed substance on its own, in preparations and articles.


New additions to the SVHC list:
The following 8 compounds have been added to the SVHC list:

Substance Name	EC Number	CAS Number	Reason for Proposal	Potential Uses
Trichloroethylen	201-167-4	79-01-6	carcinogen, category 2	Itermediate in the manufacture of chlorinated and fluorinated organic compounds. Cleaning and degreasing of metal parts or as solvent in adhesives
Boric acid	233-139-2 234-343-4	10043-35-3 11113-50-1	toxic for reproduction, category 2	Boric acid is widely used onaccount of its consistency-influencing, flame-retarding, antiseptic and preservative properties. It is a component of detergents and cleaners, adhesives, toys, industrial fluids, brake fluids, glass, ceramics, flame retarders, paints, desinfectants, cosmetics, food additives, fertilizers, insecticides and other products.
Disodium tetraborate, anhydrous Tetraboron disodium heptaoxide, hydrate	215-540-4 235-541-3	1303-96-4 1330-43-4 12179-04-3 12267-73-1	toxic for reproduction, category 2	Disodium tetraborate and tetraboron disodium heptaoxide form the same compounds in aqueous solutions. Uses include a multitude of applications e.g. in detergents and cleaners, in glass and glass fibres, ceramics, industrial fluids, metallurgy, adhesives, flame retardants, personal care products, biocides, fertilizers.
Sodium chromate	231-889-5	7775-11-3	carcinogen, category 2 toxic for reproduction, category 2	Sodium chromate is mainly used as an intermediate in the manufacture of other chromium compounds as well as a laboratory analytical agent, but this use is limited. Other potential uses are mentioned in the literature but whether they occur in the EU is not clear.
Potassium chromate	232-140-5	7789-00-6	carcinogen, category 2 mutagen, category 2	Potassium dichromate is used as a corrosion inhibitor for treatment and coating of metals, for manufacture of reagents, chemicals and textiles, as a coloring agent in ceramics, in the manufacture of pigments and in the laboratory as analytical agent.
Ammonium dichromate	232-143-1	7789-09-5	carcinogen, category 2 mutagen, category 2 toxic for reproduction, category 2	Ammonium dichromate is mainly used as an oxidising agent. Other uses are in the manufacture of photosensitive screens and as mordant in the manufacture of textiles. Minor uses seem to compromise metal treatment and laboratiory analytical agent.
Potassium dichromate	231-906-6	7778-50-9	carcinogen, category 2 mutagen, category 2 toxic for reproduction, category 2	Potassium dichromate is used for chrome metal manufacturing and as corrosion inhibitor for vtreatment and coating of metals. It is further used as textile mordant, as laboratory analytical agent, for cleaning of laboratory glassware, in the manufacture of other reagents and as oxidising agent in photolithography.

This announcement brings the total number of substances to 38, on this SVHC list. Chemicals on this list will undergo a review to determine if they will be included on the authorization list. 



Related information

ECHA Summary of obligations resulting from inclusion in the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for authorisation
ECHA: Authorization procedure
ECHA: Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for authorisation


Related EVISA Resources

EVISA Brief Summary: REACH
EVISA Link Database: Toxicity of hexavalent chromium (chromate)
EVISA Link Database: Industrial Use of chromate
 EVISA Link Database: Toxicity of boron compounds
 EVISA Link Database: Industrial use of boron compounds



Related News

EVISA News, June 12, 2010: Chromium(VI) much more toxic than chromium(III): At least for freshwater algae a paradigm to revise?
EVISA News, May 25, 2010: New OSHA Hexavalent Chromium Requirement
EVISA News, March 10, 2010: ECHA suggests further chemicals for SVHC list
 EVISA News, October 9, 2009: REACH: Substances of very high concern
 EVISA News, September 18, 2008: REACH Update: List of 300 chemicals of very high concern


last time modified: June 24, 2010