Appliance Design - November 2008 - (Page 34)

QUALITY & STANDARDS • Ha~ardous · Substances . Regulation requires detailed kno wledge of product composition. hold on the compliance requi rements in the European Union (EU) , the EU th rows in ano ther regulation to compl y with. On June I, 2007, the Registration , Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals Regu lation (EC 1907/20(6 ), m or e com mo nly kno wn as REACH , came into force. Th e REACH Regu lation was created with the intention to pro tect human health, as well as the environment , by reducing the risk of harm ful chem ical exposure. At first glance, most (i f no t all) com pan ies J ust as the m anufacturers of th e world tho ugh t they were gett ing a strang le- Examples of articles include a smoke detector, MP3 player, computer, wet wipe, etc. The REA CH Regulation requires manu facturers to register substances that are intentionally released from their produ cts and to notify the European Chemical Agenc (ECHA) of any y Substances of Very High Co ncern (SVHC) that are present in the art icle being placed on the EU market. Manu facturers need to be aware of requirements associated with SVHCs, as it will require as much effort in data collection and assessment for producers of art icles, as put forth by the chemical producers. construe the REA Regulation to onlyapply CH to chem icals and chemical-based products such as detergents, oils, and lubricants, etc. However, this is not true. REA CH includes a very important section that perta ins to all man ufacturers of articles. According to REACH , Article 3 (3), an article can be defined as th e following: " an object which dur ing production is given a special shape, surface or design which determines its fun ction to a greater degree than its chemical composition." Defining SVHCs The next logical question is what exactly constitutes an SVHC. An nex XIV of the REACH Regulation is to contain a candidate list of the substances that the EU has deemed to be SVHCs. However, that list does not yet exist - it is expected to be created and augmented in consultation with EU Member States as the haza rdous nature of certain chemicals are identified throughout the REACH registration process. The first 16 pro posed substances for the cand ida te list have 'MfI/VI/.applianceDESIGN.com b y m atthe w quinn MatthewQuinn isglobal services project manager, IntertekA j,, 11SSolutions, 't' Ottawa Canada. ; 34 a p p liance DESIGN November 2008 http://www.appliancedesign.com

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Appliance Design - November 2008 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Metals & Metal Parts Gas Technology Displays Quality & Standards New Products Design Marts Association Report: AHAM Advertiser's Index

Appliance Design - November 2008

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