REACH

REACH is a new European Union regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals. It came into force on 1st June 2007 and replaces a number of European Directives and Regulations with a single system.

REACH has several aims:

To provide a high level of protection of human health and the environment from the use of chemicals.

To make the people who place chemicals on the market manufacturers [2] and importers [3] responsible for understanding and managing the risks associated with their use.

To allow the free movement of substances [4] on the EU market.

To enhance innovation in and the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry.

To promote the use of alternative methods for the assessment of the hazardous properties of substances e.g. quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and read across.

How does the regulation apply to Astropol?

As the regulation applies, it must be noted that Astropol's products come under the category of preparations [5], where no actual chemical reactions occur during the manufacturing process; as a consequence our products themselves do not require registration. It is however our responsibility to ensure that, where, relevant, the raw materials within our products are registered by their manufacturers and suppliers, i.e. a masterbatch or compound counts as a preparation so does not require registration but the additives therein (e.g. colourant) will require registration. This is clearly listed in article 1 of REACH.

Definitions

[2] A Manufacturer: Any natural or legal person established within the community who manufactures a substance within the Community.

[3] An Importer: Any natural or legal person established within the Community who is responsible for import.

[4] A Substance: A chemical element and its compounds in the natural state or obtained by any manufacturing process, including any additive necessary to preserve its stability and any impurity deriving from the process used, but excluding any solvent which may be separated without affecting the stability of the substance or changing its composition.

[5] A preparation is referred to as a mixture in the GHS (Globally Harmonised System of classification and labelling of chemicals). The definitive meaning of mixture & preparation in GHS is: "Mixture means a mixture or solution of two or more substances which do not react (Mixture and preparation are synonymous)"

Astropol will continue to fulfil its obligation with regard to any developments or changes in the REACH regulations and guidelines.