Skin sensitising substances: Data collection on mixtures in consumer products
What it's about:
Under the European chemicals legislation REACH, the national authorities of the EU Member States are working together to identify substances in consumer products that pose a risk to health and to regulate them where necessary. This includes skin-sensitising substances in mixtures such as cleaning products, air fresheners or adhesives that consumers can buy in shops.
Mixtures may contain many substances classified as skin sensitisers – the range of possible products is wide. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) and the Federal Office for Chemicals (BfC) at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) have therefore examined the wide range of skin sensitising substances in such products in greater detail and created a comprehensive assessment framework that can be used for further health assessments and for EU-wide regulatory measures.
The comprehensive data report External Link:‘Assessment of skin sensitising substances in consumer mixtures: hazard, exposure and analysis of alternatives’ can be downloaded as a PDF from the BAuA website:External Link:www.baua.de/publikationen
The starting point for the work on which this report is based was the question of whether skin-sensitising substances in mixtures used by consumers pose a health risk. The result of the investigations was that no general risk requiring regulation arises from the products in question. The reasons for this are discussed in detail in the report External Link:‘Assessment of skin sensitising substances in consumer mixtures: hazard, exposure and analysis of alternatives’.
The report provides a detailed account of the health risk assessment of consumer products containing skin-sensitising substances. It covers mixtures falling under the EU Chemicals Regulation REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006), such as adhesives, sealants, home fragrance products, antifreeze and de-icing agents, fillers, inks and toners, leather care products, lubricants, greases, polishes and wax mixtures, colours, impregnating agents, and detergents and cleaning agents. The report contains information on the sub-areas of hazard characterisation (including epidemiology), exposureExposureTo glossary assessment and possible approaches to risk characterisation. As part of a consultation combined with a market analysis, potential alternatives to the various substances and their use in the different mixtures and products were also identified.
In addition to regulatory data from statutory procedures such as the REACH Regulation, the report also draws on various other sources, including health insurance and clinical data. Furthermore, a comprehensive literature review was carried out and case studies were analysed. The consolidated data and results provide a sound evidence base for potential further investigations or regulatory measures, for example concerning specific groups of substances such as epoxy resins.
The report ‘External Link:Assessment of skin sensitising substances in consumer mixtures: hazard, exposure and analysis of alternatives’ can be downloaded as a PDF from the BAuA website:External Link: www.baua.de/publikationen.