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EU Proposes New REACH Annex XVII Restriction on Textile and Footwear Products

SafeGuardSMarch 26, 2018

In February 2018, the European Commission (EC) proposed to amend Annex XVII of Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) through the World Trade Organization (WTO) notifications, to add a new restriction on hazardous substances (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction (CMRs) category 1A or 1B) in clothing, other textiles and footwear.

The drafted Regulation would introduce a new entry into Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 that prohibits certain textile products from being placed in the EU market which would contain CMR substances exceeding the specified concentrations listed in Appendix 12. The proposed regulation would apply to clothing and related accessories, footwear and other textile products which under normal conditions of use would come into contact with the skin to an extent similar to clothing.

Regulation Summary

The substances listed in Appendix 12 shall not be placed on the market in the following products if the substance is present in a concentration greater than that specified in Appendix 12:

  • Clothing or related accessories;

  • Textiles other than clothing which, under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, come into contact with human skin to an extent similar to clothing;

  • Footwear.

Exemption:

  • Clothing, related accessories or footwear, or parts of clothing, related accessories or footwear, made exclusively of natural leather, fur or hide

  • Non-textile fasteners and non-textile decorative attachments

  • Second-hand clothing, related accessories, textiles other than clothing or footwear

  • Personal protective equipment (PPE) within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2016/425

  • Medical devices within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2017/745

  • Disposable textiles (designed to be used only once or for a limited time and are not intended for subsequent use for the same or similar purpose)

Restricted substances and maximum concentration limits in Appendix 12:

Chemical Group
Substances
CAS No.                  
Requirement
Remark
1
Extractable
Heavy Metals
Cadmium and its compounds
/
1 mg/kg (expressed as each metal)
2
Chromium VI
/
3
Arsenic
/
4
Lead and its compounds
/
5
Solvents / VOCs
Benzene
71-43-2
5 mg/kg

6
PAHsBenz[a]anthracene
56-55-3
1 mg/kg (each)

7
Benz[e]acephenanthrylene
205-99-2

8
Benzo[a]pyrene
50-32-8

9
Benzo[e]pyrene
192-97-2

10
Benzo[j]fluoranthene
205-82-3

11
Benzo[k]fluoranthene
207-08-9

12
Chrysene
218-01-9

13
Dibenz[a,h]anthracene
53-70-3

14
Chlorotoluenesα,α,α,4-tetrachlorotoluene
5216-25-1
1 mg/kg (each)

15
α,α,α-trichlorotoluene
98-07-7

16
α-chlorotoluene
100-44-7

17
FormaldehydeFormaldehyde
50-00-0
75 mg/kg

18
Phthalates1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid;
di-C 6-8-branched alkylesters,
C7-rich (DIHP)
71888-89-6
1000 mg/kg (each)Individually or in combination with other phthalates in this entry or in other entries of Annex XVII

19
Bis(2-methoxyethyl) phthalate (DMEP)
117-82-8

20
Diisopentylphthalate (DiPP)
605-50-5

21
Di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPP)
131-18-0

22
Di-n-hexyl phthalate (DnHP)
84-75-3

23
Solvents
/ VOCs
N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone;
1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)
872-50-4
3000 mg/kg (each)

24
N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAC)
127-19-5

25
N,N-dimethylformamide;
dimethyl formamide (DMF)
68-12-2

26
DyestuffC.I. Disperse Blue 1
2475-45-8
50
mg/kg (each)

27
C.I. Basic Red 9
569-61-9

28
C.I. Basic Violet 3 with ≥ 0,1 % of Michler's ketone
548-62-9

29
Others4-chloro-o-toluidinium chloride
3165-93-3
30 mg/kg

30
2-Naphthylammoniumacetate
553-00-4
30 mg/kg

31
4-methoxy-m-phenylene diammonium sulphate;
2,4-diaminoanisole sulphate
39156-41-7
30 mg/kg

32
2,4,5-trimethylaniline hydrochloride
21436-97-5
30 mg/kg

33
Quinoline
91-22-5
50 mg/kg

 

Reference:

Notifications and draft legislations:

  • http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/tbt/en/ [1]

  • https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2018/TBT/EEC/18_0628_00_e.pdf [2]

  • https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2018/TBT/EEC/18_0628_01_e.pdf [3]

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