The new Resolution 773 of 2021 of the Ministry of Labor defines the actions that employers must implement in their companies in terms of classification and hazard communication for chemical hazards, under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals GHS- sixth revised edition(2015), which Colombia adopted through Decree 1496 from 2018 in order to “turn it into a tool for the prevention of the potential effects that hazardous chemicals may have on human health and the environment. ”

The implementation of the GHS by companies in the workplace also represents a promotion and prevention action that was established as mandatory by the Article 9 of Law 1562 of 2012 on the Occupational Health and Occupational Health System.

Last month, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) added 8 new hazardous chemicals to the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC), which now contains a total of 219 chemicals.

Some of them are used in consumer products, such as cosmetics, scented articles, rubber and textiles, and some others are used, for example, as solvents or flame retardants in the manufacture of plastic products. Most of them were added to the Candidate List due to their hazards to people, being toxic for reproduction, carcinogenic, respiratory sensitizers or endocrine disruptors.

The Forum will prepare a draft revision of the SDS in 2022, carry out inspections in 2023 and report the results in 2024.

The 38th meeting of the Enforcement Forum once again ratified the poor quality of the information contained in the safety data sheets produced by companies. It already detected the problem in its REF-2 project back in 2013, when it found that 52% of the files contained deficient information, and its latest actions in Member States confirm the trend almost a decade later.

The use of the most widely used herbicide in the world is in question after a WHO report warning of its "possible carcinogenic effects".. In Europe its use is guaranteed until 2022, but EFSA and ECHA have received a draft assessment of glyphosate carried out by four EU Member States and will now begin to consider the findings.

The Assessment Group on Glyphosate- AGG scientific proposal about glyphosate´s harmonised classification, addressed to the ECHA last month, is not to change the existing classification from 2017.

An expert panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded that they cannot exclude genotoxicity concerns after consumption of titanium dioxide particles.

Titanium dioxide is used as food colour (E171) to make food more visually appealing, to give colour or to restore the original appearance of food. It is frequently used in bakery wares, soups, broths, sauces, salads, savoury based sandwich spreads and processed nuts, but is also present in cosmetics, paints, and medicines.

The Guidance on Poison Centres Notifications is an orientation document on the European harmonised information relating to emergency health response – Annex VIII to CLP, that aims to help users subject to regulation to comply with their obligations.

The first version was developed with the support of a specialized working group made up of industry experts, bodies designated by the Member States and European toxicology institutes. Since its first version in February 2019, the document has been updated in consultation with ECHA partners.

A few weeks ago, its fourth version was published, which addresses problems and solutions identified by certain industrial sectors in the harmonized notification process. Next, we explain the main novelties by sections.