Sharon McGuinness has been elected as the new Chair of ECHA’s Management Board. Karel Blaha will continue as the Deputy Chair of the Board.

ECHA has published a list of substances for which a lead registrant has been declared in REACH-IT. It includes the names of those lead registrant companies who have given their permission to publish. You can check the list to see which substances are being registered.

The draft opinions of the Committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) concern several uses of hexavalent chromium compounds and 1,2-dichloroethane (EDC). SEAC concluded on technical MDA and a use of arsenic acid. RAC also adopted eight opinions on harmonised classification and labelling proposals.

This issue includes useful advice to companies who are preparing their submissions for the REACH 2018 registration deadline and explains how ECHA checks the completeness of registration dossiers. We also look back on the past three years of the Biocidal Products Regulation and give an update on where we are today. In addition, you can read interviews with experts on substitution, socio-economic analysis and the circular economy.

Regulations are critical drivers for industry to substitute hazardous chemicals in Europe according to a study conducted by Joel Tickner and Molly Jacobs from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell Centre for Sustainable Production. The study, commissioned by ECHA, states that the biggest hindrances are limited staff and other resources focusing on substitution, ignorance on safer alternatives and limited information in the supply chains.
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