ETUC - Trade Union Priority List 2.0
European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Trade Union Priority List 2.0
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) published The Trade Union Priority List for REACH Authorization version 2.0, including 334 substances or group of substances ordered by priority, this represents 29 new entries compared to the first version published in March 2009. Most of these substances are identified as causative agents for recognized occupational diseases in the EU countries.
The ETUC is convinced that including the union-listed chemicals in the REACH Authorisation List would cut the incidence of chemical-related occupational diseases and the attendant costs for the community, workers and industry itself. It will also be a strong incentive for companies to innovate and replace them by safer alternatives. For SVHC identification, the Trade Union Priority List also takes into consideration additional inherent hazard properties not explicitly mentioned in REACH article 57 but which are considered to be of “equivalent level of concern” (i.e. covered by Article 57(f)). The chemicals considered as SVHC in the Trade Union Priority List are therefore CMRs category 1A, 1B or 2 listed in Annex VI of Regulation 1272/2008, carcinogens classified 1, 2A or 2B by IARC, PBT/vPvB substances listed in the framework of the OSPAR Convention and by the European Technical Committee on New and Existing Substances, known and suspected endocrine disruptors listed in the Community Strategy for Endocrine Disruptors, neurotoxic substances listed by Vela et al (2003) and sensitisers listed in the Annex VI of Regulation 1272/2008 and the “REACH allergens” listed by Friedhelm et al. (2006). All chemicals included in the Trade Union Priority List are High Production Volume Chemicals (HPVC) listed in ESIS (European Chemical Substances Information System) or covered by a SIEF (Substance Information Exchange Forum) publicly known by March 2010 and expected to be registered by the first registration deadline.