EU – REACH Annex XVII: Regulation on Lead Restrictions in Consumer Products Published

Vol. 826 | 28 Apr 2015

Regulation 2015/628/EU has been published in the Official Journal of the EU. This legislation introduces new restrictions for lead contained in consumer products. The Regulation amends the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation with regard to Entry 63 of Annex XVII on restrictions on lead and it compounds. A link to Regulation 2015/628 is below

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2015.104.01.0002.01.ENG

The amendment under Entry 63 of Annex XVII of REACH restricts lead and its compounds in articles supplied to the general public that can be mouthed by children.

The text of the new requirement is below:

Articles shall not be placed on the market or used in articles supplied to the general public, if the concentration of lead (expressed as metal) in those articles or accessible parts thereof is equal to or greater than 0.05% by weight, and those articles or accessible parts thereof may, during normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, be placed in the mouth by children. 

That limit shall not apply where it can be demonstrated that the rate of lead release from such an article or any such accessible part of an article, whether coated or uncoated, does not exceed 0.05 μg/cm2 per hour (equivalent to 0.05 μg/g/h), and, for coated articles, that the coating is sufficient to ensure that this release rate is not exceeded for a period of at least two years of normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use of the article.

For purposes of this paragraph, it is considered that an article or accessible part of an article may be placed in the mouth by children if it is smaller than 5 centimetres in one dimension or has a detachable or protruding part of that size.

The restriction will impact a wide range of consumer goods as it will be required that accessible components comply with the new requirements. The following have all been identified as articles that may be mouthed by children and therefore would fall within the scope of the proposed legislation:

• Accessories – Key rings, bags, purses, belts and cases (lead in details such as buckles)
• Clothes (buttons, zippers, rivets and polymer materials)
• Interior decorations
• Stationery products
• Sports and leisure items

Some items have been exempted form the Regulation and keys and padlocks are included in this list.

The Regulation will apply to all articles that are placed on the market after 1 June 2016.

For more information, please contact:

Mike Redshaw
Email: mike.redshaw@intertek.com
Tel: +44 (0)1942 265700