Committee for Risk Assessment concludes on restricting D4 and D5

Committee for Risk Assessment concludes on restricting D4 and D5

ECHA/NA/16/10

The committee also agreed on three draft opinions for authorisation and adopted eight opinions on harmonised classification and labelling.

Helsinki, 15 March 2016 – In its plenary meeting held from 29 February to 10 March, the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) agreed to support the proposal of the UK to restrict the placing on the market of siloxane substances D4 and D5.

Both substances are high tonnage substances in Europe and have direct uses in personal care products, cosmetics, cleaning products and a wide range of other uses. D4 is a persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) substance and D5 is a very persistent, very bioaccumulative (vPvB) substance as agreed by the Member State Committee. Due to these properties, they have a potential to accumulate in the environment and cause effects that are unpredictable in the long-term and are difficult to reverse.

The restriction is targeted at the use of D4 and D5 in personal care products that are intended to be used or disposed with water, e.g. shower gels, shaving foams and shampoos. These uses are a major source of these substances to the aquatic environment in the EU.

RAC also agreed on three draft opinions on the uses of chromium trioxide in functional chrome plating, functional chrome plating with decorative character, and etching. The committee also discussed the key issues identified in the 27 applications for authorisation mainly concerned with chromates that were received in the November 2015 submission window.

The committee also adopted eight opinions on harmonised classification and labelling.

More details of these opinions are available in the annex.