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Laboratory Safety Manual

Reach

The REACH Regulation is the EU-wide regulation on chemicals. REACH: Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals

REACH is based on the principle that manufacturers, importers and downstream users are responsible for ensuring that the chemical substances they manufacture, place on the market or use are not harmful to health or the environment. REACH mainly applies to chemical products, i.e. substances and mixtures.

Substances with particularly hazardous intrinsic properties may, in some cases, not be used without authorisation. Which substances come under this category is assessed by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), which compiles a Candidate List of hazardous substances that may require authorisation. Substances that can be proposed for the Candidate List are those with properties that may have serious and lasting effects on human health and the environment, e.g. substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic to reproduction, persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, or that have other serious properties such as endocrine disrupting properties.

Substances already requiring authorisation are published in Annex XIV (Annex 14) to REACH, which is updated with new chemicals at regular intervals (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency).

Please note that substances listed in the REACH Regulation (Annex XIV) do not require authorisation for use in scientific research and development (defined as scientific experiments, analyses or chemical research carried out under controlled conditions in a volume below 1 tonne per year).

The exemption from permit requirement applies to work carried out within research projects, including postgraduate research training, thesis projects or equivalent.

However, the exemption does not apply to teaching in undergraduate education, as this does not count as scientific research and development. A chemical substance/product listed in REACH Annex XIV is therefore prohibited from use in laboratory work in undergraduate education or equivalent activities.

Information on REACH can be found at:

  • Swedish Chemicals Agency's web pages about REACH
  • European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) web pages about REACH 
  • Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency