CHEMSAFETYPRO NEWSLETTER May 2015: China RoHS 2 vs EU RoHS 2

As China is close to adopting its upgraded China RoHS regulation (China RoHS 2), we feel it necessary to look into this new regulation and compare it with EU RoHS 2.

• China RoHS 2 vs EU RoHS 2: Similarities and Differences

4 New Chemicals Listed under the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions and Their Impacts
28 May 2015
Let's take a look at those 4 newly added chemicals and analyze their potential impacts on your business. A complete list of candidate chemicals is also given.  Read more.. 

K-REACH's Leniency Program Is Now Official!
26 May 2015
According to Chemical Watch (subscription required), Korea is giving 6 months (May~Nov 2015) for companies who failed to notify new substances under TCCA in the past. 

Two New GHS Quizzes Launched (Pass Rate 60% and 10% Respectively).
13 May 2015
We have launched two new GHS quizzes (regular level and advanced level) to test your knowledge of GHS. You can take the anonymous quizzes here.

5 Free Underutilized Chemical Regulatory Tools You Should Know
11 May 2015
Here are 5 free tools that we think are among the most underused but very helpful tools for checking chemical regulatory lists and chemical safety data. Read more.

How to Find Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) for Chemical Substances?
6 May 2015
This article will help you understand different types of occupational exposure limits and teach you how to find them easily. Read more...

A Comparison of NFPA, HMIS and HCS Labelling System in the United States
4 May 2015
Are you confused with various chemical hazard rating and workplace labelling system in the United States: NFPA, HMIS, and HCS/GHS? You may find it helpful to read this comparison.

China RoHS 2 vs EU RoHS 2

18 May 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published its final draft version of the Administrative Measures for the Restriction of the Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products for public consultations. The consultation ends on 17 June 2015.

This new China RoHS regulation is known as China RoHS 2. As China is close to adopting its upgraded China RoHS regulation (China RoHS 2), we feel it necessary to look into this new regulation and compare it with EU RoHS 2.

What is New?

On 4 June 2015, the EU commission has published a new Directive (EU) 2015/863 to amend Annex II to EU RoHS 2 (Directive 2011/65/EU) to add the following 4 phthalates onto the list of restricted substances.

• Bis(2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP): max 0.1%;
• Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP): max 0.1%;
• Dibutyl phthalate (DBP): max 0.1%;
• Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP): max 0.1%.

CHEMSAFETYPRO: 5 Free Underutilized Chemical Regulatory Tools You Should Know

As a chemical safety and regulatory affairs professional who is responsible for regulatory compliance check, chemical registration or hazard communication, you will need to have access to regulated chemical lists in one country/region and obtain necessary chemical safety data (toxicology data, occupational exposure limits, etc.) to do your job.

The good news is that there are many free chemical regulatory databases and tools available. Here are 5 free tools that we think are among the most underused but very helpful tools for checking chemical regulatory lists and chemical safety data.

5. EPA's ChemView

Finding the hazard data of a chemical substance is a lot easier nowadays with the help from OECD eChemPortal and ECHA's registered substances database. That does not mean those tools work the best for every substance in every country.

If you wish to find health and safety data for specific existing chemical substances received by EPA in the USA and EPA's assessments and regulatory actions under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the best free tool available is EPA's ChemView.

As a young database developed by EPA recently, ChemView currently only contains information on over 1,500 chemicals. EPA will continue adding more info that EPA receives about chemicals including those on EPA's Safer Chemical Ingredient List.

It shall be noted that many regulated existing chemicals subject to Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) under TSCA are assigned with generic names only (no CAS has been given), you shall search those generic substances by function groups (i.e, amine) in ChemView.

2. GESTIS International Limit Values for Chemical Agents

When it comes to a free tool for finding international occupational exposure limits, there is no better one than GETIS International Limit Values for Chemical Agents.

This free database developed by IFA contains a collection of occupational limit values for hazardous substances gathered from various EU member states, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, China, and the United States. Limit values of almost 1,800 substances are listed and kept up-to-date.

For example, if you search Acetonitrile or CAS No. 75-05-8 in GESTIS, all OELs in different countries will pop up.

3. SUBSPORT Restricted and Priority Substances Database

If you are looking for various lists of substances of concern in one place, you may try SUBSPORT Restricted and Priority Substances Database. This free database contains 32 lists of substances that are legally or voluntarily restricted or are recommended for restriction due to their hazards.

Lists are grouped in five categories: international agreements, EU regulatory lists, governmental lists, NGO and trade union lists as well as company lists. Those lists include and are not limited to:

• EU SVHC Candidate List;
• EU RoHS;
• ChemSec SIN List;
• Stockholm Convention on POPs;
• OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 (238 substances);

2. Chemical Risk Information Platform (CHRIP)

Chemical Risk Information Platform (CHRIP) is a free database developed by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE) in Japan to help companies find comprehensive information on Risk Assessments and Laws & Regulations etc. of chemical substances.

Most of people probably mainly use CHRIP for checking Japanese inventory of existing and new chemical substances (Japan ENCS) and other controlled chemicals under the Chemical Substance Control Law (CSCL) and Industrial Safety and Health Law (ISHL).

In fact, you could do more than that with CHRIP. CHRIP also provides the following lists in English (to name a few) free of charge. Those lists are frequently updated to keep up-to-date.

• Substances Subject to TSCA Significant New Use Rules (SNUR);
• Thailand's Hazardous Substances List That the Department of Industrial Works (DIW) Is Responsible For;
• Lists of Regulated Chemicals under Vietnam's Chemical Law;
• Advisory GHS Classifications by Japanese Government.

1. GESTIS Hazardous Substance Database

If you search for harmonized EU GHS classifications for your substances, you will go to ECHA's C&L inventory. If you search for German water hazard class or German occupational exposure limits for your substances, you may need to go to other places.

With GESTIS hazard substance database, you can easily do both in one place. I would recommend this tool to every company who supplies chemicals to German market because it offers lots of Germany-specific regulatory info which usually needs to be included in the section 15 of SDSs. The Germany-specific regulatory info includes:

• WORKPLACE LABELLING ACCORDING TO GERMAN ASR A1;
• GERMAN OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE LIMIT VALUES;
• GERMAN WATER HAZARD CLASS;

GESTIS hazard substance database is developed by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA) and contains up-to-date GHS classification & labelling info, physio-chemical properties, personal protection equipment info, occupational exposure limits and other regulatory info for more than 8,500 substances. Data are updated immediately after publication of new official regulations or after the issue of new scientific results.

What makes GETIS more exiciting is that its mobile version is also available. You can view chemical hazard data on your phone by clicking here.

- See more at: http://www.chemsafetypro.com/Topics/Other/5_Underutilized_Free_Chemical_Regulatory_Tools.html

Comparing NFPA, HMIS and HCS Labelling System in the United States

NFPA 704 rating system is a standard system developed by the U.S.-based National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for indicating the health, flammability, reactivity and special hazards for many hazardous chemicals through the use of the NFPA 704 Diamond. In this article, we will give you a brief introduction to NFPA rating criteria and compare NFPA 704 labels with HMIS labels and the new GHS labels under OSHA's revised Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). 

Full Article at: http://www.chemsafetypro.com/Topics/USA/NFPA_704_Label_NFPA_Rating.html

Types of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) and How to Search

An Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL) is the maximum allowable airborne concentration for a given chemical substance or biological agent in the workplace. In this article, we will help you understand different types of OELs and teach you how to find them.

Types of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs)

There are three types of occupational exposure limits: the time-weighted average (TWA) exposure limit, the short-term exposure limit (STEL) and ceiling value.

• the time-weighted average (TWA) exposure limit - the maximum average concentration of a chemical in air for a normal 8-hour working day and 40-hour week;
• the short-term exposure limit (STEL) - the maximum average concentration to which workers can be exposed for a short period of time (usually 15 minutes) without suffering irritation, irreversible tissue damage, or "significant" narcosis;
• the ceiling value or maximum allowable concentration (MAC) - the concentration that should not be exceeded at any time.

It shall be noted that TWA OELs and STEL are not absolute limits, but rather time-weighted averages measured over an 8-hour period or 15 minutes. Ceiling value is the concentration that should not be exceeded at any time.

Occupational Exposure Limits in the United States

In the United States, there are mandatory and recommended occupational exposure limits. Many of OSHA's mandatory permissible exposure limits (PELs) are outdated and inadequate for ensuring protection of worker health. OSHA recommends that employers consider using alternative occupational exposure limits such as ACGIH TLVs, NIOSH RELs, etc.

• OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs)
• California OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs)
• ACGIH Threshold Limit Values (TLVs)
• NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limits (RELs)
• AIHA Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEELs)

Occupational Exposure Limits in Europe

In Europe, there are two types of occupational exposure limits for chemical agents: EU community exposure limits and national occupational exposure limits. The community exposure limit values are set by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. The Member States are required to establish national occupational exposure limit values for listed chemical agents, taking into account the Community values. National exposure limit values may be different from the community values.

• EU Community Occupational Exposure Limits and National OELs;

How to Find Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) for Chemical Substances Easily?

Recommended or mandatory occupational exposure limits (OELs) have been developed by many organizations in many countries for thousands of chemical substances. Unfortunately, those limits are not the same.

There are many databases for checking international occupational exposure limits. My favorite database is GESTIS. This free database contains a collection of occupational limit values for hazardous substances gathered from various EU member states, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, China, and the United States. Limit values of almost 1,800 substances are listed.

Read more at
http://www.chemsafetypro.com/Topics/OELs/Occupationa_Exposure_Limits_OELs_TWA_STEL_MAC_Databases.html