HSE Committee Update – Newsletter September 2020

30/09/2020

Like many other workgroup meetings, the HSE committee meetings are currently held as video conferences, but we are very much looking forward to the next physical meetings in Brussels, perhaps in January 2021. In the meantime, the ECHA continues to legislate on chemicals. The 15. ATP on CLP was issued in August without the expected change in the concentration limit for boric acid, but with the new concentration limit of 15ppm for the widely used biocide isothiazolinone.

The HSE group would also like to remind members to review the consultations on microplastics and fluorocarbons. The intention is to restrict the use of microplastics in both articles and lubricants, which could pose a serious problem for some grease formulations, as could the envisaged limit for some fluorinated hydrocarbons.