Category Archives: nl2018q3

Canada – Proposes Amendments to Mercury Regulation

On February 1, 2018, Environment and Climate Change Canada opened a public consultation on proposed changes to the Products Containing Mercury Regulations.

The amendments are organized into nine sub-sections 3.1 through 3.9 as shown in Table 3. The public consultation is open until April 2, 2018.  The “Consultation document: Proposed amendments to the Products Containing Mercury Regulations” is available on the Environment Canada website[1].

Table 3: Amendments to the Canadian Mercury Regulation

TitleSummary of Changes
3.1 Alignment with the requirements under the Minamata ConventionReduced levels of mercury in exemptions for fluorescent lamp to comply with Minamata convention
3.2 Amendments to further align with initiatives abroadAlignment of exemptions for mercury in lamps with EU RoHS Directive

Removal of exemption for mercury in compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) by 2023 (this will essentially ban CFLs from sale in Canada)
3.3 Amendments to the automobile headlamps exemption (item 9 of the schedule)Removal of exemption of mercury in automobile headlamps by 2024
3.4 Amendments to the non-applications (section 2 of the regulations)Clarification that pest control lamps are included in the restrictions

Exclusion of import of products for own personal use
3.5 Adjustments to certain elements of the labelling requirements (sections 8 and 9 of the regulations)Clarification to labelling requirements, including

- use of both official languages
- Hg symbol
- New requirement to identify component containing mercury
3.6 Amendments to testing requirements to broaden the accreditation bodies recognized under the regulations (section 10 of the regulations)Broaden accreditation bodies for test laboratories
3.7 Amendments to the reporting requirements (section 12 of the regulations)Changes to reporting requirements with Canadian address and export quantity
3.8 Amendments to the record keeping requirements (sections 14 to 16 of the regulations)New requirements for record keeping to track quantity of products exported and to allow electronic records
3.9 Adjustments to clarify certain exemptions in the schedule of the regulationsClarification of exemptions for lab test reference materials and replacement parts.

[1] Proposed amendments to mercury regulation, https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/canadian-environmental-protection-act-registry/products-mercury-regulations-proposed-amendments.html

EU – Results of ECHA Enforcement Project

The report on the REF-4 ECHA Enforcement project on restrictions was posted on the ECHA website[1].  The enforcement was conducted by inspectors in 27 European countries on 5,625 products, including 4,599 articles.  Overall, 18% of the products were found to not comply with substance restrictions.

The substances that were most frequently found in products above allowed thresholds were phthalates, cadmium, asbestos fibres, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and hexavalent chromium.   Although EEE products were not specifically targeted in this enforcement project, the results indicate that there is still a significant non-compliance in the EU to substance restrictions and that authorities feel that additional actions need to be taken to reduce non-compliance

Recommendations arising from the project included:

  • A need for more enforcement targeting high-risk areas;
  • A need for companies to perform more due diligence in conformity assurance, especially analytical testing;
  • Organize national and EU-wide campaigns to raise awareness of the restrictions

Increased awareness of the issues in the EU could lead to importers and distributors requesting more information from product manufacturers.

The report provided a series of recommendations to companies, including the following excerpt:

Companies placing chemicals or articles on the market that may contain substances restricted in REACH Annex XVII should pay a lot of attention to making sure that they know their products and their own suppliers. This may also need proactive testing of the products and agreements between suppliers to ensure that the chemical composition of the products in the supply chain is in accordance with the chemicals legislation.

[1] REACH Enforcement Project, https://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/13577/ref_4_report_en.pdf/b53f5cd9-64a4-c120-1953-e9e176b9c282

Sweden – Reports 16 Electronics Importers for Prosecution

Following an enforcement review of 19 importers (mostly of electronics products), the Swedish Chemicals Agency (KEMI) has reported 16 of the companies to prosecutors due to violations of hazardous chemicals in products.

KEMI checked a total of 261 products of which 23% were found to contain at least one restricted substance above threshold. In a press release[1], they stated that the most common non-compliance was the use of lead in solder in electronics. The second most common violation was the use of SCCP (short-chain chlorinated paraffins) in plastics. KEMI also expressed concern that manufacturers and importers may not be putting enough priority and effort into compliance to substance restrictions.

[1] KEMI press release (in Swedish), http://news.cision.com/se/kemikalieinspektionen/r/kemikalieinspektionen-har-anmalt-16-foretag-till-aklagare,c2449637

EU – Seven Substances Added to REACH Candidate List

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 NameDescriptionCAS no.Examples of EEE Applications
Benz[a]anthracene56-55-3, 1718-53-2Impurities in carbon black, which is used as coloring agent in plastics and softener in rubbers
Cadmium carbonate513-78-0n/a
Cadmium hydroxide21041-95-2It is generated in the anodes of nickel-cadmium and silver-cadmium batteries during the discharge
Cadmium nitrate10022-68-1, 10325-94-7n/a
Chrysene218-01-9, 1719-03-5Impurities 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 Plus”™)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.

EU – Germany and Sweden Propose Restriction on Fluorinated Substances

German and Swedish agencies have submitted a joint proposal to ECHA to restrict six “per- and polyfluorinated substances” (PFASs) before they see wide-spread use as alternatives to other fluorinated substances such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that have broad upcoming restrictions.

The proposal directly concerns perfluoronic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), Perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA), perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoDA), perfluoroethridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) and perfluorotetradecanoic acid (PFTeDA). However, several other fluorinated materials are also affected because they can break down to create one of these six substances. KEMI, the Swedish Chemicals Agency, estimates that the ban would affect a total of 200 highly fluorinated substances.

The proposal is available on the ECHA website in the section on “Submitted restrictions under consideration”[1]. The proposed scope of the restriction, as listed on the website, is:

  1. Shall not be manufactured, used or placed on the market
  • as substances,
  • as constituents of other substances,
  • in a mixture
  1.   Articles or any parts thereof containing one of the substances shall not be placed on the market.

The proposal is currently open to public consultation until June 20, 2018.

[1] EU PFAS restriction proposal, https://echa.europa.eu/restrictions-under-consideration/-/substance-rev/18115/term