European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) tasked with creating list of substances approved for use in materials that contact drinking water; first draft expected to contain 1,500 substances, be adopted by 2024; substance approval will be time limited and subject to reassessment
December 11, 2019
ECHA committees adopt opinions on DMF, siloxanes
European Chemicals Agency committees for socio-economic analysis (SEAC) and risk assessment (RAC) adopt final opinions on restriction proposals for DMF, D4, D5, D6; opinions to be made publicly available soon
December 9, 2019
ECHA ‘maps’ REACH chemicals
European Chemicals Agency publishes ‘map of chemical universe’ assigning over 21’000 REACH-registered chemicals into regulatory action-based ‘pools’; the majority (86%) not yet evaluated
December 5, 2019
ECHA nanoform guidance documents
European Chemicals Agency publishes updated versions of two guidance documents for registration of substances in nanoform
November 25, 2019
Letter urges EU ministers to reject microplastics restriction
34 NGOs and alliances recommend environment ministers reject ECHA’s current proposed restriction on microplastics, cite concerns over exceptions included for biodegradable microplastics and exceptionally long transition periods
November 18, 2019
ECHA inspection: failures to communicate SVHCs in articles
European Chemicals Agency pilot enforcement project finds 12% of inspected articles contain substances of very high concern (SVHCs) with 88% of suppliers failing to sufficiently communicate to customers; calls for improved communication in the supply chain
October 28, 2019
ECHA proposes 74 chemicals for evaluation
European Chemicals Agency announces draft plan for EU Member States to evaluate 74 chemicals under the Community rolling action plan (CORAP) in years 2020-2022
October 2, 2019
ECHA recommends 18 SVHCs for authorization
European Chemicals Agency recommends 18 substances of very high concern for addition to the authorization list, includes six food contact chemicals
September 25, 2019
EU moves forward with TiO2 carcinogen classification
EU Commission reported to soon propose classification of titanium dioxide in liquid and powder forms as category 2 carcinogen; EU Parliament and Council to have two months to review; will enter into force if no objections arise
September 25, 2019
ECHA proposal restricting N,N-dimethylformamide
European Chemicals Agency committees support proposal to restrict use of substance both alone and in mixtures with concentration of 0.3% or greater; public consultation on socio-economic analysis to begin soon, proposal expected to be adopted in December 2019
