ECHA Publishes New "Example Exposure Scenarios" for REACH Chemical Registration

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has now developed some "practical examples of how to generate exposure scenarios (ESs) for risk characterization under the REACH chemical substance regulation.  The ESs were developed in collaboration with industry groups in the cleaning products and construction chemicals industries. 

According to ECHA:

The new example exposure scenarios are featured in two publications that are now available on the ECHA website. These are useful for both registrants and downstream users receiving extended safety data sheets (SDSs) for registered REACH substances.  The publications provide descriptions of both professional and consumer use of the substances. One document presents an example ES that refers to the widespread use of a substance in floor coatings applied by workers. The other document contains an example ES on the use of cleaning products by consumers. In both example ESs, the substances are classified as hazardous to human health but with a relatively low hazard level.

ECHA also notes that each publication includes:

• exposure scenarios, exposure estimations and risk characterisations for the CSR and for communication via the SDS;
• a description of the methodologies applied;
• learning points and conclusions from the exemplification process;
• open questions where further work is needed.

More information and links to the example ESs can be found here.