European Commission Directorate General for Inte : New website makes it easier to find information on the chemicals we use in Europe

Easily accessible information on more than 120,000 chemicals is now available through the new and improved website of the The European Chemicals Agency - ECHA.

ECHA presents information in three-levels of complexity: the simple infocard, the more detailed brief profile and the full source date. This improves transparency and traceability of data on chemicals, making it easier to find out about the chemicals we use on a daily basis.

The infocard gives a summary of the key information on a chemical substance in plain English. Users can read about the chemicals they are exposed to, where they are commonly used, whether they are hazardous and the precautions that they might need to take.

The brief profile goes deeper into the environmental, human health and physico-chemical properties of the chemical. It provides a user-friendly overview of the information collected for each substance under the different chemical regulations. This will be most useful for employers, workers, academics and regulators.

The third level, source data, includes the raw data submitted by companies to ECHA in REACH registration dossiers and notifications to the classification and labelling inventory.

Background

ECHA maintains one of the world's largest regulatory databases on chemicals. It combines the information from REACH registration dossiers and classification and labelling notifications from industry with the information gathered by the EU Member States and regulators through substance evaluation and regulatory risk management (such as harmonised classification and labelling, authorisation and restriction).

The database offers, for example, information on

• The classification and labelling of 120 000 chemicals
• The hazards and safe use of 14 000 chemicals registered under the REACH Regulation
• 2 million study summaries on properties and effects of chemicals
• 168 chemicals listed as being of very high concern
• 64 chemicals for which their use has been restricted in the EU.

For biocides, ECHA publishes information on active substances, biocidal products as well as a list of active substance and product suppliers. Statistics on the export and import of hazardous substances that are regulated under the Prior Informed Consent Regulation (PIC) are also available on ECHA's website.

Read more on the ECHA website