The European Commission has restricted the use of hexavalent chromium compounds in leather since May 1, 2015
EU research shows that more than half of shoes and leather sandals contain hexavalent chromium compounds. To protect public health, the European Commission recently passed an amendment to Annex 17 of the REACH regulation, restricting the use of hexavalent chromium compounds in leather products.
Detailed information includes:
Leather products that come into contact with the skin must not be placed on the market if the content of hexavalent chromium compounds is 3 mg/kg (0.0003% by weight) or more of the total dry weight of the leather.
Finished leather parts that come into contact with the skin must not be placed on the market if the content of hexavalent chromium compounds is 3 mg/kg (0.0003% by weight) or more of the dry total weight of the leather parts.
- Used finished products that were already circulating in the EU market before May 1, 2015, and are intended for final use, are not subject to the restrictions in Articles 5 and 6 above. (These regulations came into effect on May 1, 2015.)
For detailed information, please refer to the official website of ECHA, the competent authority for REACH regulations:http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2014.090.01.0001.01.ENG
Please refer to the appendix for an updated version of REACH Appendix 17, which includes the above amendments: REACH Appendix 17_20140330 Update.
Although this amendment will not officially take effect until May 1 next year, in order to prepare for the upcoming restrictions, we urge small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the upstream and downstream of our supply chain that are involved in leather-related finished and semi-finished products to take this restriction seriously as soon as possible and make corresponding adjustments and improvements to their processes to ensure that the hexavalent chromium compound content of the final product or parts is less than 3 mg/kg (0.0003% by weight).
Sources: International Chemicals Policy Promotion Network (2014-03-31) Attachment file:REACH Appendix 17 (Updated March 30, 2014).pdf
