EU REACH – Commission Updates 12472:2020 as Harmonised Method

Vol. 1241 | 29 Apr 2021

The European Union issued an update to REACH for demonstrating the conformity of articles under entry 27 of Annex XVII. This update changes the harmonised methods which should be used for the assessment of products to comply with the nickel release requirement of Entry 27 and also the EN 12472 method to the 2020 version of the standard.

The information is on the Commission website only and no publication in the Official Journal of the European Union is foreseen.

The details for harmonised standards for Entry 27 are therefore amended as below:

European standardisation organisation	Reference and title of the standard	Reference of superseded standard
CEN	EN 1811:2011+A1:2015 Reference test method for release of nickel from all post assemblies which are inserted into pierced parts of the human body and articles intended to come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin	EN 1811:2011
CEN	EN 12472:2020 Method for the simulation of accelerated wear and corrosion for the detection of nickel release from coated items	EN 12472:2005+A1:2009
CEN	EN 16128:2015 Ophthalmic optics – Reference method for the testing of spectacle frames and sunglasses for nickel release	EN 16128:2011

The key changes in EN 12472:2020 include

• Change to requirements for the abradant granules.
• Clarification that the standard does not apply to articles with an outer coating containing nickel and those which are inserted into pierced ears and other parts of the human body.

The update can be accessed using the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/45505

For additional information please contact:

Mike Redshaw
Global Softlines, Head of Technical
mike.redshaw@intertek.com