Four new chemicals added to the ECHA's SVHC Candidate List

On 2020-06-25, ECHA (the European Chemical Agency) added four new hazardous substances to the Candidate List for SVHCs (Substances of Very High Concern). The additions include three substances that are toxic to reproduction (used in industrial processes to produce polymers, coating products and plastics, respectively), and one endocrine disruptor (used in consumer products, such as cosmetics), as detailed in the table below:

Significance:

The Candidate List of SVHCs now contains 209 chemicals, a large majority are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction.  Companies may have legal obligations when their substance is included in the Candidate List - either on its own, in mixtures or in articles. Any supplier of articles containing a Candidate List substance above a concentration of 0.1% (w/w) has to give sufficient information to their customers and consumers to allow safe use.

Effective Date:

Importers and producers of articles containing a Candidate List substance have six months from the date of its inclusion in the list (now updated on 2020-06-25) to notify ECHA.  As of January 2021, companies will also need to notify ECHA’s SCIP database if their articles contain Candidate List substances.

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