RAC and SEAC agree on restrictions and authorisations

During the plenary meetings in December 2013, the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) adopted an opinion on the restriction proposal of lead in consumer articles submitted by Sweden, and the Committee for Socio-economic Analysis (SEAC) agreed its draft opinion on the same proposal. RAC also agreed on two reference dose-response curves for the carcinogenicity of hexavalent chromium substances and for inorganic arsenic. In addition, both Committees agreed on draft opinions for the first application for authorisation.

News alert

Two new Guidance in a Nutshell documents: for downstream users and on the compilation of safety data sheets

The European Chemicals Agency has published on its website two new Guidance in a Nutshell documents: Guidance in a Nutshell for downstream users and Guidance in a Nutshell on the compilation of safety data sheets (SDSs), following the update of the corresponding parent Guidance documents on the same subjects. The nutshell documents are now available on the ECHA website in 23 EU languages.

News alert | Guidance section

Fact sheet explaining toll manufacturer responsibilities under REACH

ECHA has published a new fact sheet explaining the concept of toll manufacturers and the responsibilities that they may have under the REACH Regulation.

News alert | Fact sheet

Public consultation on SEAC's draft opinion on a restriction proposal for lead and its compounds

A public consultation has been launched on the draft opinion of the Committee for Socio-economic Analysis (SEAC) on a restriction proposal for lead and its compounds intended for consumer use. The deadline for comments is 14 February 2014.

SEAC has requested further clarification on some issues, and has therefore put forward three specific questions to be addressed. Comments will be reviewed and considered by SEAC in its final opinion, which is scheduled for adoption by 21 March 2014. In spring 2014, ECHA will submit the opinions of RAC and SEAC to the European Commission who will take the final decision on the restriction.

Consultation

New search functionalities for registered substances and biocides

You can now search registered substances on ECHA's website by the non-confidential use descriptors, e.g. product category, sector of use, process category and environmental release categories. In addition, it is possible to filter the registered substances by the date on which the data was published. The database now contains 10 655 unique substances and information from 41 973 registrations.

For biocidal active substances, it is now possible to search for all published data. In addition, for each active substance you can automatically see those authorised biocidal products containing the substance as an active ingredient.

Biocidal product authorisations are now also searchable. However, only authorisations available in R4BP 3 are listed. Those authorisations that are not yet migrated to R4BP 3, can be accessed through a downloadable XLS list. In the future, all authorisations will be in R4BP 3 and searchable on ECHA's website.

Registered substances | Biocidal active substances | Biocidal products