REACH and Chemical Compliance Webinars

PFAS update

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been the subject of much discussion over the past year, and the intense debate over their use continues in 2024. In this webinar, Lucy Cove discusses the current status of PFAS restrictions within the UK, the EU and USA, including the impact that proposals for future legislative changes will have.

Restricted substances requirements for protective gloves

This webinar, presented by the Chemical Testing team at SATRA will examine key pieces of legislation relevant to the European and USA markets (including REACH and Californian Proposition 65), and discuss the obligations that companies supplying into these areas need to meet.

Gloves which are marketed as Personal Protective Equipment within the EU or UK will be certified in accordance with the PPE Regulation ((EU) 2016/425), and will undergo assessment by a Notified Body or an Approved Body to ensure that all legal requirements have been met. However, this assessment does not always include additional legal obligations that a manufacturer or importer must meet in order to place a product onto the market. It is essential that manufacturers and importers are aware of this, and take steps to ensure compliance.

Many producers of gloves operate on a global scale, so will need to consider the legal requirements of all countries that they supply into.

Solvent vapour monitoring

The use of solvent vapour badges helps control employees' exposure to potentially hazardous products in the workplace.

In the UK, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 requires employers to adequately control exposure to materials in the workplace which cause ill health. Some products used during manufacturing such as adhesives, primers, cleaners and finishing agents may contain organic solvents that can cause serious short-term and long-term health effects.

In this webinar Lorna Harding (chemical technologist team leader) and Steven Greaves (health and safety advisor) will discuss solvent vapour monitoring and the health and safety concerns of solvent exposure.

PFAS legislation in the EU, UK and USA

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used for many years in a wide range of industries, including protective clothing and footwear, domestic cookware, and firefighting foams. However, in recent times concerns have been raised regarding the use of these substances. Dubbed "forever chemicals" by the media due to their persistence in the environment, PFAS have become the subject of intense debate due to the long-term impacts their continued use may have.

Many nations have already imposed legislation to limit the release of PFAS chemicals into the environment, and there are proposals for more stringent regulations to be implemented.

In this webinar, Lucy Cove discusses the existing prohibitions on PFAS chemicals within the UK, the EU and the USA, and considers the impact that proposed future restrictions may have.

PAHs: The importance of testing for restricted PAHs

PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) are compounds that can be found in materials used in footwear, clothing, PPE and other consumer products, especially plastics and rubbers. These compounds are not intentionally added but can be present as impurities. Some PAHs have been restricted in both national and international legislation due to both the short-term and long-term health effects from being exposed to these PAHs.

In 2021 the ISO 16190 test method for detecting PAHs was revised; this method is written for footwear products and is also required for PPE gloves under EN ISO 21420. SATRA purchased a new instrument in 2022 to be able to provide more accurate testing to this method and this webinar presented by Callum Timms explains more about PAH analysis, what testing SATRA can provide and the importance of this testing.

Updates to the EN1186 test method series for food contact compliance

The EN 1186 series of test methods for materials and articles in contact with food had been in place for 20 years until an update was published in 2022.

This update consolidates some of the individual parts together and in this webinar Lorna Harding, technologist team leader in the chemistry team, explains the changes to the test method and how this impacts products that claim compliance for contact with food such as PPE gloves, plastic packaging and homeware items.

SCIP - Substances of Concern In articles as such or in complex objects (Products) database

Once a substance of very high concern (SVHC) from the candidate list has been identified in a product, there is a now an obligation to inform ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) of this by submitting a notification to the SCIP database. In this session Jade Hurley, one of SATRA’s chemical technologists, will discuss the SCIP database, including how to make a SCIP notification.

An Introduction to the Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulation

Persistent organic pollutants accumulate in the environment and are a hazard to human health and the environment. They are regulated by the Stockholm Convention and the Aarhus protocol. The EU implementation of this worldwide legislation is the POPs regulation (EU) No 2019/1021 and in this webinar chemical technologist Jade Hurley discusses this regulation.

UK REACH - Update

This session, presented by Lorna Harding, one of SATRA’s chemical technologists, gives an introduction to UK version of the European chemical legislation. This focuses on the obligations for importers and manufacturers of chemicals since the end of the Brexit transition period on 31st December 2020, including some of the changes for downstream users.

An Update to Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 Food Contact

This webinar, presented by Lorna Harding, a technologist in SATRA’s chemistry team, provides a summary of the new Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/1245 which revises Regulation (EU) 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.