Assessing chemicals in groups has sped up authorities’ work, with assessments for 1 900 substances finalized in 2021. Risk management actions could begin immediately for these 300 substances. 

The fourth report from ECHA's Integrated Regulatory Strategy has been released, demonstrating that significant progress has been made in identifying regulatory measures for substances of concern at a faster pace. 

More than 1 900 chemicals were assessed in 2021, with most of them being grouped based on structural similarity. This was a 30 percent increase over 2020. Around 300 of these compounds require risk management strategies, while the remaining 800 do not. The remaining 800 require more data, and roughly 350 are projected to transition to risk management in the future. 

Since group evaluations became the emphasis, a total of around 3 800 chemicals have been examined, including 134 phthalates and phthalate-like compounds and 148 bisphenols, from 2019 through the end of 2021. The first round of 19 group assessments, which encompassed over 450 chemicals, was released at the end of 2021. 

Around a quarter of the chemicals evaluated require additional risk management. Some need to be restricted, and the European Commission's Restrictions Roadmap includes them. The evaluations will continue to feed into the roadmap and will directly contribute to the EU's Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the Green Deal's goals. 

This leaves 75% of the cases where no further regulatory action is required because the risk is minimal, the opportunity for exposure is low, or risk management measures are already in place.

However, before risk management procedures can begin, hazards must be confirmed, and more data is frequently required first. To avoid regulatory measures being planned based on old data, companies must proactively update their registrations with up-to-date information.

In comparison to 2020, the number of compounds requiring harmonized classification and labeling (CLH) has tripled in 2021, according to the ECHA report. Authorities must devote appropriate resources and begin formulating proposals for these compounds to prevent generating a regulatory backlog, as CLH is frequently a prerequisite for going forward with other regulatory steps.

The regulatory requirements for over 1 300 high-volume chemicals (tons per year exceeding 100) have yet to be determined.

Background 

The Integrated Regulatory Strategy of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) intends to accelerate data gathering, the identification of groupings of compounds of concern, and regulatory action. It accomplishes this by combining various regulatory processes into a unified approach to manage chemical risks effectively and efficiently. Collaboration between ECHA, Member States, and the European Commission is also encouraged under the policy. 

The strategy's purpose is to determine which registered compounds are high priorities for regulatory risk management or data collection, and which are currently low priorities for regulatory action.

Reference: https://echa.europa.eu/-/immediate-risk-management-suggested-for-300-harmful-chemicals