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Environmental information systems
Key messages: From 2010 to 2021, the registered use volumes of substances subject to authorisation under the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation decreased by 45%. Data reported by Swedish companies as well as by REACH registrants suggest that EU-level regulatory action linked to substances currently on the REACH Authorisation List has considerably reduced the annual use of these substances in Sweden, reflecting the positive and protective impact of such steps.
Estimates of relative changes in volumes of chemicals subject to REACH authorisation placed on the EU market, 2010-2021
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Authorisation is a major tool put in place by the REACH Regulation for controlling EU market access to ‘substances of very high concern’ (SVHC). REACH requirements ensure that SVHC can only be used in the EU, if companies are authorised to do so — and, if so, then only for specific authorised uses. Therefore, the use of substances subject to REACH authorisation can be expected to decrease over time.
In a series of reports, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) analysed the volumes of substances subject to the REACH Regulation. A first report studied the aggregated tonnages reported in the REACH registration database for different SVHC between 2010 and 2021. While no causal link can be made between regulatory measures and reported tonnages, the Figure suggests a substantial reduction in the volumes of substances subject to REACH authorisation starting in 2010. The total reduction in the EU was estimated to be about 600 kilotonnes — or 45% — as of 2010. Taking into account the different starting dates from which on an authorisation was required, the estimated reduction still amounted to 20% or about 170 kilotonnes.
Some differences between substance groups are noteworthy. For example, the use of five phthalates — mainly bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) used in various products from flooring to footwear — fell by 90% from 2010 to 2021, while that of anthracene oil (used e.g. in dyes) and coal tar pitch high temperature (used e.g. in the aerospace industry) dropped by 30%. The overall annual reduction in SVHC uses was estimated to be 4% from 2010 onward, and 14% if accounting for when an authorisation was required. This suggests that, in many instances, the onset of the REACH authorisation requirement drove reductions in the use of these substances in the EU.
In another report, ECHA sought to estimate the causal impacts of the REACH authorisation process on the use of SVHC in Sweden and showed that regulatory action (including harmonised classification/identification as SVHC) over the past decade has led to substantial reductions in use volumes. Five years after a substance entered Annex XIV of REACH (and thus became subject to authorisation), Swedish firms’ average annual SVHC dropped by about 40%. It is, however, unclear to which extent these findings can be extrapolated to the rest of the EU. This is because other Member States do not require companies to regularly report their use volumes of hazardous chemicals.
Relevant objectives under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability
Minimise exposure of humans and environment to substances hazardous to health and the environment, through risk management measures and full information to users of chemicals
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Other relevant indicators and signals
References and footnotes
- ↵EU, 2010, Commission Regulation (EU) No 276/2010 of 31 March 2010 amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) as regards Annex XVII (dichloromethane, lamp oils and grill lighter fluids and organostannic compounds) (Text with EEA relevance) (OJ L 86, 1.4.2010, pp. 7-12).
- ↵SVHC are defined in the REACH regulation as substances that meet the criteria laid down in Article 57 and are identified in accordance with Article 59(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 i.e. substances being carcinogenic category 1, mutagenic category 1 and toxic to reproduction category 1, Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic (PBTs), very Persistent very Bioaccumulative (vPvBs); Equivalent level of concern to CMR and PBT/vPvB.
- ↵ECHA, 2022, Changes of market volumes of chemicals subject to authorisation in 2010-2021, European Chemicals Agency, Helsinki, Finland.
- ↵Substances listed in Annex XIV of REACH are subject to authorisation. These substances are all SVHC but they have undergone additional regulatory scrutiny.
- ↵ECHA, 2021, Causal impacts of the REACH Authorisation process on the use of substances of very high concern in the EU, European Chemicals Agency, Helsinki, Finland.