REACH Guidance document on use description updated

REACH Guidance document on use description updated

ECHA has published an update of Chapter R.12 of the Guidance on information requirements and chemical safety assessment (IR&CSA) on use description.

ECHA/NI/15/38

Helsinki, 8 December 2015 - The Guidance update aims to support registrants in improving the description of uses of their chemicals mainly in the context of the registration dossier.

The scope of the guidance document has been extended from the system of use descriptors to also cover the principles and elements for describing the uses of chemical substances, the role that the use description plays in different REACH processes, and the related legal requirements.

In addition, the lists of use descriptors have been updated, including a new use descriptor (Life cycle stage) and some modifications of the descriptors already available.

An appendix on how to manage these changes has also been included.

The update of Chapter R.12 of the IR&CSA Guidance is the first of a number of updates across the chemical safety assessment related guidance. The aim of the overall update is to implement the experience gained among industry and authorities since 2008, while making the package of support documents more consistent, user-friendly and better aligned with the tools available.