In late December the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) announced that the Member State Committee approved seven substances of very high concern (SVHC) for addition to the REACH Candidate List and an update to the bisphenol A (BPA) entry as an Endocrine Disruptor. ECHA also indicated that the Candidate List update would be delayed from December to mid-January.
The Candidate List was subsequently updated on January 15, 2018. The new SVHCs and examples of EEE applications (identified by the IEC 62474 validation team) are listed in Table 1.
Table 1: SVHCs Added to REACH Candidate List (January 2018)
| Substance Name | Description | CAS no. | Examples of EEE Applications |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benz[a]anthracene | 56-55-3, 1718-53-2 | Impurities in carbon black, which is used as coloring agent in plastics and softener in rubbers | |
| Cadmium carbonate | 513-78-0 | n/a | |
| Cadmium hydroxide | 21041-95-2 | It is generated in the anodes of nickel-cadmium and silver-cadmium batteries during the discharge | |
| Cadmium nitrate | 10022-68-1, 10325-94-7 | n/a | |
| Chrysene | 218-01-9, 1719-03-5 | Impurities in carbon black, which is used as coloring agent in plastics and softener in rubbers | |
| Dodecachloropentacyclo [12.2.1.16,9.02,13.05,10] octadeca-7,15-diene (“Dechlorane Plusâ€â„¢) | covering any of its individual anti- and syn-isomers or any combination thereof | - | Flame retardant for electric wire and cable covering material |
| Reaction products of 1,3,4-thiadiazolidine-2,5-dithione, formaldehyde and 4-heptylphenol, branched and linear (RP-HP) | with ≥0.1% w/w 4-heptylphenol, branched and linear (4-HPbl) | - | n/a |
Impact on EEE Manufacturers
Manufacturers, importers and distributors have immediate REACH Article 33 obligations to disclose information about any of these SVHCs in their products if above the threshold of 0.1% in an article. Four of the SVHCs are considered to be possible constituents of EEE products (as indicated in the table).
The other three SVHCs are unlikely to be present. They are unintentional by-products of manufacturing and/or use. The Cadmium hydroxide would only be present above 0.1% if the product contains a certain type of battery which has gone through multiple charge-discharge cycles.