The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) regularly reviews particularly hazardous substances on its own initiative or on the advice of member states or other interested parties to determine whether it is possible and cost-effective to regulate them further.
For this purpose, substances on the candidate list are evaluated and, depending on their priority, recommended by ECHA for inclusion in Annex XIV of the EU chemicals regulation REACH (Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006). Lead is one of these substances for which a review is currently underway to determine whether it should be included in Annex XIV of substances subject to authorization under REACH.
For this purpose, public consultations were held from February 2, 2022 to May 2, 2022, during which the public had the opportunity to comment on ECHA's draft recommendation within 90 days and, in addition, to already formulate a position to the European Commission.
ECHA recommendation published
ECHA's peer review process has been completed. On April 12, 2023, the recommended substances were published on the ECHA website and sent to the EU Commission. Lead is recommended for inclusion in Annex XIV, along with seven other entries:
- Lead [CAS: 7439-92-1]
- 2-(4-tert-butylbenzyl)propionaldehyde and its individual stereoisomers [CAS: - ]
- 2-Benzyl-2-dimethylamino-4'-morpholinobutyrophenon [CAS: 119313-12-1]
- 2-Methyl-1-(4-methylthiophenyl)-2-morpholinopropan-1-on [CAS: 71868-10-5]
- Diisohexyl phthalate [CAS: 71850-09-4]
- Ethylenediamine [CAS:107-15-3]
- Glutaral [CAS: 111-30-8]
- Orthoboric acid, sodium salts [CAS: 13840-56-7]
Next steps
The EU Commission is now evaluating the recommended substances and already has the comments received from the 2022 public consultation. Its task is to decide whether and how to include the recommended substances in Annex XIV of the REACH Regulation. If it decides to do so, a "Latest application date" will be set for the substance in question, by which time the last authorization can be applied for. In addition, the substance may be used by all market players until the so-called "sunset date". After this date, the substance may not be used without authorization.
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