DECEMBER 2021

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the very first edition of our renewed newsletter! Why revive this now you ask? The EU policy arena is rapidly changing the context we work in, and as such may have an impact on the existing regulations around formaldehyde.

It all started in 2019, when the European Commission revealed its most ambitious environmental agenda: the EU Green Deal. Shortly after, this was followed by the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Climate Law, and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS).

The latter has as mission to ensure “chemicals are produced/used in a way that maximises their benefits to society while avoiding harm to planet & people and production and use of safe and sustainable chemicals in Europe becomes a benchmark worldwide”

Given the context, members of Formacare see the relevance of highlighting the important uses of formaldehyde, show how this substance can positively contribute to elements of the EU Green Deal, and back this up with data.

Continue reading to discover more.

Yours sincerely,

Lars Eric Johansson

Chairman Formacare

Executive Vice President Industrial Relations at OQ Chemicals

ADVOCACY UPDATES

Formacare has contributed to the open consultation in the context of the reclassification of formaldehyde under the Harmonised classification and labelling (CLH) EU regulation. As new regulators meetings are expected next year, Formacare will continue to engage as appropriate for a science-based reclassification of the substance. Read our full contribution here.

The last Competent Authorities meeting of 2021 for the Polymers Requiring Registration (PRR) issue, the so-called CARACAL CASG, will take place on 15 December. The European Commission, Member States, NGOs and industry will continue to discuss the upcoming Polymers registration under the revision REACH. Formacare was established in 2019 as one of the five pilot groups to engage with ECHA and the Commission on the data behind aminoplast resins. Now that the pilots delivered their final outputs in May 2021 to authorities, Formacare continues to support the Cefic delegation with technical inputs.

FORMACARE UPDATES

Formacare launches new sensory irritation studies

The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability places a strong emphasis on the proactive generation of scientific data for regulating chemicals. Over the years, Formacare has built a reputation as a credible sector group of Cefic that generates and owns substantial data to support the decision-making at EU policy level regarding formaldehyde. The most recent effort, is the launch of of two new studies investigating sensory irritation as the most sensitive health endpoint after formaldehyde exposure.

The two studies will be conducted in parallel between Europe and in the US. Preliminary results are expected as of 2022 and the finalisation of this research is planned for 2023/2024. If you want to know more, contact us at:

Just before the Occupational Exposure Limit for Formaldehyde becomes binding, Formacare concludes its voluntary commitment with almost 100% compliance

Following the Voluntary Agreement that most of the formaldehyde producers in Europe now are part of, the reported formaldehyde exposure at workplace in Europe in 2021 is the following:

• 53% of the surveyed workers were not exposed at all to formaldehyde
• 46.9% were exposed below the upcoming EU legal limit of 0.3 parts per million (ppm)
• 0.1% were exposed beyond the upcoming EU legal limit of 0.3 ppm (but corrective and protective measures were applied)

The Voluntary Agreement was signed by Formacare members in May 2019, building on a collaboration with trade unions and employers’ groups at European Union (EU) level to jointly advocate for binding Occupational Exposure Limit values of 0.3 particles per million (ppm) to enhance worker safety.

The Voluntary agreement was put in place to speed up the application of these measures two years ahead of the legal transposition of Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMD3). In July 2021, this proposed value was adopted under the third amendment to the EU CMD3 to be the new EU Binding Occupational Exposure Limit (BOEL).

Formacare hosts its last General Assembly for 2021

On 24 November, Formacare members got together for a virtual meeting to:

• Adopt the budget for 2022
• Welcome Fritz Egger GmbH & Co. OG as a new member of Formacare
• Take stock of all relevant regulatory developments for formaldehyde in 2021 and discussing the outlook of activities in the year to come

We are now ready to face what comes our way in 2022.

CASE STUDIES

Formaldehyde and the EU Green Deal: Clean energy

Formaldehyde is a building block for many applications. The properties it has are often incomparable to other substances, making it an enabler for quality properties that are sought by many diverse industries. For instance, in wind turbines. Both the interior and the exterior benefit from formaldehyde

Formaldehyde’s essential uses

Driven by data, Formacare members created factsheets identifying essential uses of formaldehyde in healthcare, for a circular economy, (road) safety, capturing carbon, and showing last respects.

© Cefic aisbl 2017 – Rue Belliard, 40 – 1040 Brussels – Belgium

EU transparency Register n° 648791442323-90