Switzerland Expands Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern

Switzerland announces its intention to expand its Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHC) under Annex 3 to the Ordinance on Protection against Dangerous Substances and Preparations (Chemicals Ordinance).

The announcement was made by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) in October 2021. The proposed expansion is an alignment with recent changes to the European Union’s Candidate List.

The eight substances are:

  • Phenol, alkylation products (mainly in para position) with C12-rich branched alkyl chains from oligomerization, covering any individual isomers and/or combinations thereof (PDDP)
  • Orthoboric acid, sodium salt
  • Medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCP) [UVCB substances consisting of more than or equal to 80% linear chloroalkanes with carbon chain lengths within the range from C14 to C17]
  • Glutaral
  • 4,4 '-(1-methylpropylidene) bisphenol
  • 2-(4-tert-butylbenzyl) propionaldehyde and its individual stereoisomers
  • 2,2-bis (bromomethyl) propane1,3-diol (BMP), 2,2-dimethylpropan-1-ol, tribromo derivative / 3-bromo-2,2-bis (bromomethyl) -1-propanol (TBNPA), 2,3-dibromo-1-propanol (2,3-DBPA)
  • ·         1,4-dioxane

Under Article 71 of the Swiss Chemicals Ordinance ‘Articles Containing SVHCs,’ suppliers of an article containing an SVHC on the Candidate List in a concentration of more than 0.1% must provide the professional user or distributor of the article with sufficient information, available to the supplier, to allow the safe use of the article including, as a minimum the name of the substance. Equivalent information must also be supplied to consumers, free of charge, within 45 days of a request. This is also similar to Article 33 of REACH.

The changes will enter into force on February 1, 2022.

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