New Limits in Europe for 33 Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, Reprotoxic (CMR) Substances in Clothing, Textiles and Footwear to Annex XVII of REACH Regulation

New limits for 33 textiles chemicals under REACH

On 10th October 2018, the European Commission published Regulation (EU) 1513/2018 that modifies Annex XVII to REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 by including a new entry (Entry 72). These new requirements shall be applicable from 1 November 2020.

Brands, retailers and manufacturers of textiles and textile containing product (including clothing) need to be aware of this major change in REACH regulation and ensure that finished articles are compliant with these new changes. REACH Annex XVII requirements apply to any products and materials that are manufactured, retailed, imported and distributed in the European Union (EU).

Therefore, the restriction will be applicable to the following groups of products:

What does this mean?

A new entry has been added into Annex XVII of REACH placing restrictions on several chemicals that are known to be Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, Reprotoxic (CMR’s). The new entry (Entry 72) of Annex XVII of REACH sets the limits for 33 CMR substances that may be present in the articles above either from the production process or because they have been added intentionally to give specific properties to the products.

The 33 chemicals that have been added are as follows:

The full list of chemicals in Regulation (EU) 2018/1513 can be found here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018R1513&from=EN

Important Points to Note

•  These restrictions come into place on 1^st November 2020 – so you may want to adjust your testing strategy now or plan for next year’s testing specification
•  All entries within Entry 72 have their own individual limits
• Carpets, wall coverings and rugs are not under this regulation

Chemical testing of products and materials helps your business with compliance to REACH regulation as well as providing your customers with assurance. Eurofins | BLC offer a variety of REACH testing and support services for a wide range of products including clothing and textile products.

Discuss your testing requirements with our chemical experts via email at info@chem-map.com, or call +44(0)1604 679999

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