REACH certification and SVHC detection

What is REACH certification

REACH is a chemical regulatory system established by the European Union for the registration, evaluation, licensing, and restriction of chemicals, which was implemented on June 1, 2007. The content of REACH certification regulations is not limited to the pre registration and registration of chemical substances. The fundamental purpose is to authorize and restrict the use of chemical substances. Registration is only to collect the intrinsic properties of chemical substances, conduct chemical safety assessments, and determine whether they pose risks to humans and the environment; Authorization and restriction are measures to control the application and exposure of high-risk chemicals, granting specific uses to some of these high-risk chemicals, thereby limiting their use, and even prohibiting their use through REACH certification. The main content of REACH certification is to prove that daily products do not contain harmful chemicals to human health. Therefore, all daily products produced in the EU or imported into the EU market, mainly textiles, must pass the registration, inspection, and approval of harmful chemical substance content. Once the specified content is exceeded, they cannot be sold in the EU market.

What is SVHC detection?

SVHC, a substance of high concern, originates from the EU REACH regulation. SVHC detection refers to the detection of substances controlled by SVHC in REACH regulations, which is a method of analyzing the presence and content of SVHC in products through chemical analysis. According to Article 57 of the REACH regulation, SVHC is determined based on the following criteria. Substances with very high levels of concern have serious consequences for harm. Substances that meet the conditions can be placed in a list. The SVHC of this list was first published on October 28, 2008 and last updated on June 20, 2016. This list is referred to as the candidate list for all substances added by the European Chemical Administration (ECHA). SVHC may have very serious or, in some cases, irreversible impacts on people and the environment, hence the reason for its authorization.

What is highly concerned about matter?

The so-called high concern substances refer to high-risk substances, namely mutagenic, carcinogenic, reproductive toxic substances (CMR), persistent bioaccumulated toxic substances (PBT), or highly persistent and highly bioaccumulated substances (vPvB). According to Article 7 of the EU REACH certification regulation (referred to as REACH-SVHC), formulations or products containing substances of high concern that meet the requirements of this regulation need to be notified to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) or the competent authorities of EU member states.

Recommendations for REACH certification and SVHC testing

1. Compare the EU SVHC list to understand the characteristics of the products imported to the EU, test the substance content, and exclude the possibility that the substances used may be defined as SVHC;

2. Track and follow the revision of the REACH list of substances of high concern, strengthen research on identification standards for substances of high concern related to REACH regulations, and strengthen the detection of substances of high concern.