REACH is the Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It entered into force on 1st June 2007 to streamline and improve the former legislative framework on chemicals of the European Union (EU). REACH places greater responsibility on industry to manage the risks that chemicals may pose to the health and the environment.
In principle REACH applies to all chemicals: not only chemicals used in industrial processes but also in our day-to-day life, for example in cleaning products, paints as well as in articles such as clothes, furniture and electrical appliances.
Registration entails providing a lot of information on the properties of the chemical. An enormous amount of testing will have to be done in the coming years. All this information will be used for chemical safety assessments for each and every use for the chemical in question. There will be lists of ‘intended uses’, ‘exposure scenarios’, ‘risk characterisations’ and ‘risk management measures’. The safety data sheets will become a lot more comprehensive than they are today. Many of these requirements not only apply to ‘substances’, but also to ‘preparations’, such as adhesives.
REACH Roadmap available
The 'REACH Roadmap' is the result of a cooperation project of Afera, ECMA, Fedes, Finat, Fpe and Intergraf. Members of these associations and federations are cooperating in the 'Combined REACH Working Group'. The Roadmap is available for members only.
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