EU Aligns SDS Requirements with Sixth and Seventh Revisions of GHS

By the middle of the year, the EU Commission wants to update Annex II of REACH (Guide to the Compilation of Safety Data Sheets, SDSs), aligning the requirements for SDSs with the sixth and seventh revised editions of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS). The European Parliament and Council of Ministers are currently examining the draft Annex. The REACH Committee had already approved the EU proposal at its November meeting.

EU Regulation 2018/1881, which has been in force since January of this year, provides the reason for the modification of Annex II. It defines specific requirements for chemicals with nanomaterials. Because this information is also recorded in SDSs, Annex II should be amended accordingly.

Annex VIII of Regulation 1272/2008 provides another impetus for the modification. The new version should enable the inclusion of unique formula identification (UFI) for hazardous chemicals on the SDS so that industrial locations will have access to it. That’s an absolute must for certain mixtures that are not packaged.

Furthermore, the EU wants to improve communication about endocrine disruptors along the entire supply chain and therefore respective data on toxicology and ecotoxicology are required. Additionally, any SDS created in the future will have to contain expanded information (if available) on specific concentration limits, multiplication factors, and acute toxicity estimates.

Chapter 1.5 (page 35ff.) combined with annex 4 of the seventh revised edition of the GHS describes the requirements for SDSs. They will be considered during the update of Annex II of REACH.

Please contact us at sds@kft.de if you need assistance with Safety Data Sheets and/or GHS regulations.