REACH: HOW IT AFFECTS PSA TAPES

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1 REACH: HOW IT AFFECTS PSA TAPES Brian Johnson, Sr. EHS&R Stewardship Specialist, REACH Program Office, 3M, St. Paul, MN Introduction The REACH chemical regulation was enacted in December of 2006 with the primary purpose of protection of human health and the environment as well as the free movement of chemical substances in and through the European Union (EU). i This regulation affected not just preparations, but also articles. This paper will provide an overview of REACH with a direct focus on how this regulation affects pressure sensitive tapes products. Because of the complexity of REACH, all requirements cannot be covered in this paper. What is REACH REACH stands for registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals. It replaces over 40 regulations including the European Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances (EINECS). To understand and properly implement the REACH regulation, several guidance documents, or REACH Implementation Projects (RIP), are being developed by the European Chemical Agency (ECHA). One purpose of REACH is to increase knowledge about the high volume chemical existing substances marketed in the EU, to determine what their commercial uses are, and to ensure that they are properly managed. ii It is estimated that there are approximately 30,000 of these known high volume substances. Another purpose of REACH is to ensure that risks from the use substances of very high concern (SVHC) are either adequately controlled or justified by socio-economic grounds. iii Based on the guidance within REACH, there are approximately 1500 SVHC. Preparations There are different requirements for preparations (chemical products) and articles. The basic process preparations under REACH is that industry registers the substances it uses in its preparations (chemical products) over 1 metric ton per year with the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) electronically. The ECHA creates a candidate list of possible SVHC by June The EU member states evaluate the available information of those possible SVHCs and places those substances of highest concern on Annex XIV of REACH. The ECHA evaluates the registrations of those substances and either prohibits or authorizes the use of those chemicals under certain conditions. In order to comply with REACH, industry must know what is in products, how those products are used and how much of the substances they place into commerce. For most companies, this is a significant project to gather and analyze this information. Additionally, industry is required to provide physical, toxicological and environmental testing on substances with their registrations. Therefore, industry bears the financial and risk management burdens of REACH. As a practical matter, the ECHA could not possibly handle all of the registrations at one time. Industry needs time to complete the toxicology and environmental testing. Commerce needs to continue in an orderly fashion which the REACH process works. At the same time, there is some urgency to address 177

2 the most hazardous highest volume substances. To manage these concerns, the REACH regulation has a timeline built into it. That timeline allows for pre-registration of substances to give the ECHA an idea of the scope of registrations and to group companies by substances. The timeline then schedules the substance registrations over 11 years, with the highest volume and highest concern substances first. If a company pre-registers its substances, then they can continue to sell products containing those substances as long as they register on time. If a substance is not pre-registered, then products containing that substance cannot be sold until the registration is complete. Substances in products that total less that 1 metric ton per year for a company do not require pre-registration or registration. Articles REACH is one of the first regulations of this type that also includes articles. Under REACH, an article is defined as object which during production is given a special shape, surface or design which determines its function to a greater degree than does its chemical composition. iv Most pressure sensitive tapes are considered articles. Articles are considered less hazardous in general than preparations but suppliers of articles have two obligations that must be met. Both obligations involve substances of very high concern. First, SVHC in articles must be notified if the substances are in products at 0.1 weight percent or higher and the total volume of the substance is greater that 1 metric ton per year for all products supplied in the EU. Notification is similar to registration in that the substance is identified, the volume stated and the use of the SVHC in the article is documented electronically to the ECHA. Notifications must be submitted to the ECHA by June of v The second obligation is that the article supplier must communicate to their customers that the article contains a SVHC greater than 0.1 weight percent. The communication must include the name of the SVHC. Since the 0.1 weight percent criteria is key to the obligations for article, it is important to understand how to determine the weight per cent of components in an article. The substance concentration threshold of 0.1 % (w/w) applies to the article as produced or imported. vi Thus, the weight percent is calculated using the whole article as supplied by the manufacturer. REACH identifies a special group of articles called articles with intended release. For these articles, the supplier has included substances that are intended to be released in order for the article to function as intended. An example of an intended release would be a fragrance added to a tape to make the tape more appealing to customers. Normal wear and tear during use or a release caused by unintended uses of the article is not an intended release. The article supplier must treat this type of article as both a preparation and an article. In the example of the fragrance added to a roll of tape, the fragrance would be treated as a preparation and the rest of the roll of tape as an article. According the article 7(1) of REACH, the fragrance components would require pre-registration and registration where the rest of the roll of tape would require notification and communication if the roll of tape contained SVHC. SVHC Substances of very high concern are central to the authorization process in REACH and to the obligations for articles. Article 57 of REACH identified the groups of substances considered candidates to be SVHC. Those groups include: (a) carcinogens, mutagens, and reproductive toxins, category 1 and 178

3 2 as defined by Directive 67/548/EEC; (b) persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) substances and very bioaccumulative and very persistent (vpvb) substances as defined by annex XIII of REACH; and (c) substances with endocrine disruption properties or having sufficient scientific evidence of probable serious effects on human health or the environment which raises equivalent level of concern as the other groups. vii The candidate list will be compiled by the European Chemical Agency using this guidance. That candidate list must be finalized by June Current estimates are that there will be between 1300 and 1800 substances in this candidate list. A closer examination of this guidance shows that there are several sub-groups of substances, such as lead and its compounds, which comprise a large number of substances unto themselves. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standard committee E1 worked on this issue and has developed a good estimate of the list of substances that will be on the final candidate list. They also looked at the sub-groups of substances and expanded them into lists of substances with individual Chemical Abstract Services (CAS) numbers. Their current list is approximately 2900 substances. That list and a related standard are currently available from SAE as ARP9536 and AS9535. The next step in the SVHC process is defined by Article 59 of REACH. viii The member states of the EU select substances from the candidate list and develop dossiers documenting the properties of the substance that warrant its SVHC status. After review, those substances found to meet the criteria will be placed on Annex XIV of REACH. The substances on Annex XIV are the substances that will require authorization for continued use in preparations and require notification communication when in articles. This process of placing a substance on Annex XIV will take time. It is estimated that approximately 50 substances will be added each year. Thus it will take well over 20 years to go through the candidate list. There is a prioritization process to help decide which substances will be reviewed first. That process is defined in Article 58 of REACH. ix The expectation is that the highest volume PBT and vpvb substances will be the first to be reviewed. Although this process will take time, customers are likely to request information on the substances on the candidate list as soon as it is available. Some customers may use the candidate list as a black list and refuse to purchase products containing these substances. Thus, it is important to review preparations and article products as soon as possible for candidate list substances. Tapes as Articles As previously stated, most tape products are articles. RIP 3.8 is the specific REACH guidance for articles. The final draft of RIP 3.8 has a section specifically addressing tapes. The authors of this guidance realize that tape components have different functions. x RIP 3.8 takes this into account and includes definitions and examples of how different types of tapes should be managed to meet REACH requirements. Table 6, shown below, is from that guidance. xi 179

4 Tapes are divided into 3 different groups. The first group includes tapes that are really preparations on a carrier. Examples here include waxes and mastics on a carrier. Further examples are thermally activated tapes that are designed to work by with the addition of heat energy. Since the adhesive changes shape and sometimes chemical composition during use and these tapes are not considered articles. Products in this category should treat the carrier as an article and the rest of the construction as a preparation. The second group includes tapes that have an intended release. Examples in this group a tape with a fragrance or insecticide added as a secondary feature. In this case, the fragrance or insecticide would be treated as a preparation and the rest of the tape as an article. The third group includes all other types of single coated, double coated and transfer tapes. Almost all pressure sensitive tapes fall into this group. All products in this group would be treated as articles and thus the primary concern would be SVHC content. If these tapes contain SVHC they would require proper communication to customers and likely have notification requirements to the ECHA. 180

5 Summary of Affects on Tapes and Tape Suppliers Although REACH has an affect on everyone in the supply chain for tapes sold in the EU, what those effects are depend on where a company is in the supply chain. Suppliers of raw materials to tape manufacturers in the EU will need to coordinate with those manufacturers so the registrations can be completed. Suppliers to tape manufacturers in other places in the world will need to provide information on substances of very high concern in supplied materials. Manufacturers of tapes in the EU have to consider the obligations for registration on preparations as well and notification and communication obligations for articles. Manufacturers of tapes other places in the world that import tapes in the EU have to consider the notification and communication obligations for articles. All need to consider the issue of substances of very high concern. Because of the focus and likely future restrictions on these substances, customers will be interested in understanding which products contain these substances and likely will strongly encourage replacement of those substances as soon as possible. Suppliers and tapes manufacturers need to be prepared to meet these new customer requirements. i REGULATION (EC) No 1907/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL, Official Journal of the European Union, December 30, 2006, L 396/1 ii Ibid, L 396/2 iii Guidance for the preparation of an Annex XV dossier on the identification of substances of very high concern, June 2007, page 7. iv Draft Final Technical Guidance Document on requirements for substances in articles Reach Implementation Project 3.8, APPENDICES, ECHA, December 2007, page 2 v Ibid, page 15 vi Ibid, page 13 vii Guidance for the preparation of an Annex XV dossier on the identification of substances of very high concern, ECHA, June 2007, page 8. viii Ibid, page 8 ix Ibid, page 8 x Draft Final Technical Guidance Document on requirements for substances in articles Reach Implementation Project 3.8, APPENDICES, ECHA, December 2007, page 13 xi Ibid, page

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