In an article published on May 23, 2017 by regulatory news provider Chemical Watch, reporter Clelia Oziel informs that industry association PlasticsEurope has brought an action to the European Court of Justice on May 21, 2017, challenging the decision of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to identify bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7) as a substance of very high concern (SVHC). In January 2017, ECHA added BPA to the Candidate List of SVHCs for authorization due to its reprotoxic properties (FPF reported). PlasticsEurope argues that BPA is mainly used as an intermediate, which lies outside the scope of REACH. Therefore, ECHA breached the “principle of proportionality” and “committed a manifest error in assessment” by not considering “the information at its disposal showing the uses of BPA as an intermediate,” PlasticsEurope claims. A court hearing on the case will begin earliest at the end of 2017, or more likely in 2018, according to PlasticsEurope.
BPA-based plastics are used in water bottles (e.g. polycarbonate) and BPA-based epoxy resins as inner coatings in food and beverage cans. In June 2017, ECHA’s Member State Committee (MSC) will discuss a proposal to classify BPA as an SVHC also because of its endocrine disrupting effects in humans, Oziel informs. Non-profit organization ClientEarth considers PlasticsEurope’s action “a strategy to discourage or delay” additional classification of BPA as an endocrine disruptor. Advocacy group CHEM Trust urges the plastic industry to acknowledge the toxicity of certain chemicals and find safer alternatives, “rather than trying to find legal loopholes which delay action and waste regulatory resources.”
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Clelia Oziel (May 23, 2017). “PlasticsEurope files action against ECHA’s BPA SVHC listing.” Chemical Watch
