The European Commission shares a draft for new hazard categories under the CLP
The objectives of the CLP Regulation are to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment, and the free movement of substances, mixtures and certain articles.
These objectives are fulfilled, inter alia, by establishing new hazard classes and their criteria for classification of substances and mixtures at EU level to adapt the regulation to technical and scientific progress.
During the last years, experience and scientific knowledge gained in the identification of substances under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 as substances of very high concern due to their endocrine disrupting properties, highlighting the need to introduce new hazard classes in Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008. The same happens with substances with persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic properties (PBT) and very persistent, very bioaccumulative properties (vPvB) and with substances having probable serious effects on the environment due to their persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT) and very persistent, very mobile (vPvM) properties.
That's why the European Commission has conducted an impact assessment on the addition of new hazard classes and criteria, which encompassed an open public consultation, as well as a stakeholder consultation. The Commission has also consulted the European Chemicals Agency’s expert group on persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, the competent authorities for REACH and CLP (CARACAL).
Their conclusions are exposed in the draft of a new COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) amending Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, stating that:
- •Substances and mixtures with endocrine disrupting properties pose a concern to public health and the environment. They can lead to certain disorders in humans, among others birth defects, developmental, reproductive or neurodevelopmental disorders, cancer, diabetes and obesity.
- •Substances and mixtures with PBT or vPvB properties represent a very high concern, as they do not easily break down in the environment and tend to accumulate in living organisms across the food web. Accumulation of those substances in the environment is difficult to reverse and the effects of this accumulation are often difficult to predict in the long-term.
- •PMT and vPvM substances pose concerns due to their high persistence together with their low adsorption potential and mobility, they can enter the water cycle, including drinking water, and spread over long distances.
In light of these findings, the European Commission considers it appropriate to introduce new hazard classes for those substances and mixtures and the corresponding scientific criteria to identify them.
The draft has been open to public consultation during the last months, and the Commission adoption is already underway.
At SIAM we remain attentive to the progress of this new regulation to make it available to our clients in our FDS creation software, Chemeter.