In October 2019, the 14th ATP (Adaptation to Technical Progress) to the CLP regulation, which includes amendments to Annexes II, III and VI, has been adopted by the European Commission. One of the amendments includes the annex VI entry for titanium dioxide (CAS 13463-67-7) as a carcinogenic category 2 by inhalation route in powder form. This will apply to titanium dioxide in powder form containing 1% or more of particles with a diameter ≤ 10 μm. The classification also requires that mandatory product labelling and warnings will be required for mixtures containing titanium dioxide.
Titanium dioxide is widely used across multiple industries. For example, titanium dioxide is used for the manufacture of chemicals, plastic products, textile, leather or fur, wood and wood products, pulp, paper and paper products, rubber products, coatings and printing inks.
This amendment has been put forward to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers who will have a couple of months to raise any objections. If there are no objections, this amendment will come into force mid-2021.
News
Collected news links from external sources related to topics concerning the Book Chain Project.
Titanium Dioxide CMR Carc. 2 classification updates
EU consults on revised limits on formaldehyde and aluminium in toys
The European Commission is proposing to restrict formaldehyde in specific toys under Appendix C of Annex II of the Toy Safety Directive. The restriction will apply to six substances found in toys, including polymeric, resin-bonded wood, textile, leather,paperand water-based toy materials.
The European Commission is also proposing to amend point 13 of part III of Annex II of the Toy Safety Directive in regard to aluminium. The draft amendment aims to lower the migration limits for aluminium.
The exact dates for when the restrictions are put in place are not yet confirmed but the final date for comments is February 2019.
Demand for agricultural products drives ‘shock’ tree loss in tropical forests
A new report by Forest Trends, a US based NGO, found out that around five football fields of tropical forest have been illegally cleared every minute between 2000 and 2012, which losses have been driven by consumer demand for beef, leather and timber in Europe and US. The values of this trade in commodities including timber, leather, beef, soy and palm oil, accounting for $61bn a year. The majority of the illegal deforestation for commercial agriculture has been in Brazil and Indonesia. The local governments are lack of capacity to enforce laws to against illegal logging. Report found that licences and permits to cut the trees are often acquired through corruption. Authors believe that consumer countries in EU could have done more to tackle the problem. Strong regulations rather than voluntary actions is the better solution. The biggest concern for campaigners now is the spread of illegal deforestation to new countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.