News
News
Guidance on substance identification for essential oils now available
ECHA/NI/15/28
Helsinki, 11 August 2015 - The European industry associations for essential oils have published new guidance to help industry to fulfil their registration obligations under REACH. This is the result of intensive work by stakeholders, in consultation with ECHA, to establish practical solutions for the identification of this specific group of substances.
The sector-specific guidance on substance identification complements the official ECHA guidance on the same topic. The European Commission will translate this guidance into selected EU languages. Translations will be made available in the last quarter of 2015.
Essential oil producers can seek further help through the European Federation of Essential Oils (EFEO) and International Fragrance Association (IFRA).
Background
Essential oils are derived from various sections of plants and are obtained by distillation, steam distillation or expression. They are complex substances that may warrant a tailored approach to their identification. Several factors such as the region of growth, the climate within the region, the part of the plant used as source material and the process applied lead to natural variations in their chemical composition. Their complexity varies widely from simple substances with only few constituents to very complex ones with more than 100 constituents.