REACH
13/5/2010: New information added regarding specific environmental release categories (SPERCs) for application of paint by coil coating, including a link to CEFIC information on SPERC. All use descriptors now available to download in Excel format for easy copy-paste into other applications
REACH is the new European regulations on Registration, Evaluation and Authorisaton of chemicals. The REACH regulations came into force in 2007, but the implementation is staged up to 2018.
You can find all the basic information about REACH from the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) but here we will keep you updated on issues relevant to coil coating.
Pre-registration of substances finished in December 2008 and the first substances will require full registration by the end of November 2010. Coil coaters and formulators cannot register substances themselves unless they are the manufacturer or importer (M/I) of that substance.
The registration process will require that an evaluation is undertaken to cover all foreseen uses of each substance. For us as coil coaters or formulators, we need to ensure that M/Is know about our processes for inclusion into that evaluation. For this reason, ecca, in discussion with CEPE (who represent the paint, coatings and inks manufacturers) and AISE (who represent manufacturers of cleaning and surface treatment chemicals) have developed a generic description of coil coating, using the terms defined by ECHA and the template of the Downstream Users of Chemical Co-ordination Group (DUCC). To simplify the evaluation and registration process, this should be used wherever a description of the coil coating process is required.
The generic use descriptors available to download here now also include typical operating conditions for coil coating. The OCs given are 'worst reasonable case' so that they should cover almost all coil coating facilities. However, it is important to confirm that these operating conditions are relevant to your particular case.
The use description for paint now also includes reference to specific environmental release categories (SPERCs) for the application of paint in coil coating. These are included in the ECETOC TRA tool for chemical assessments. Similar SPERCs are not yet available for cleaning and conversion coating chemicals, but we are currently working on an estimating tool to provide specific environmental release data for these. Further information on SPERC, including the complete SPERC library can be found at the CEFIC website.
Finally, if you have any comments on the documents, or questions about REACH, please contact us and we will aim to help out.
Last updated 13/05/2010
