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Survey and Health Assessment of Products for Interior Car Care 3 Legislation
The definition of the Danish Chemical Act of chemical substances and products i.a. includes car care products. Therefore, the Chemical Act and regulations issued under the provision of the Chemical Act applies to this product group. Danish legislation on chemicals contains a number of restrictions concerning the content of chemical substances in consumer products. The relevant Acts and Regulations concerning consumer health are mentioned in the table below.[3] In addition, a number of car care products with a cleaning effect are marketed. Therefore, these products are also comprised by the Detergent Regulation on washing powder and detergents.
3.1 Danger labellingThe Classification Regulation (Executive Order no. 329, 2002) makes demands for classification and danger labelling of dangerous chemical substances and products. The label text on a car care product is therefore a substantial and simple way for the consumer to obtain information about the possible health risk of the product. Before sale, all car care products have to be evaluated by the manufacturer/ importer in accordance with the rules concerning classification of chemical products in the executive order on classification. If the product has been assessed to be dangerous, then it has to be labelled in accordance with the rules of the executive order. If the product is not classified as sensitising, but nevertheless contains such a substance in a concentration of more than 0.1%, then the label shall be labelled with the text: “Contains (name of sensitising substance). May produce an allergic reaction”. 3.2 Very toxic and toxic productsAccording to the Danish Chemical Act (Consolidation Act no. 1755, 2006) and the Danish Executive Order on Classification (Executive Order no. 329, 2002) no chemical substances or products that have to be labelled with the danger label "very toxic" or "toxic" may be sold in the retail trade. Please note that a product can contain rather large amounts of toxic substances without having to be labelled with the danger description “toxic”. Special rules are connected to aerosol cans concerning the content of toxic substances – please refer to the below section on substances in aerosol cans. It is forbidden to sell chemical substances and products to private persons classified for carcinogenicity, or mutagenicity, or to sell chemical substances and products that produce or increase the incidence of non-heritable effects in progeny and/or impairment in reproductive functions or capacity and therefore have to be danger labelled as toxic. However, the products may contain compounds with the above effects if the content of the substance is below the classification limit of the danger class. 3.3 Ban on certain compounds in aerosol cans (spray cans)There are certain rules for compounds in connection with chemical products in spray cans. In general, all very toxic or toxic compounds are forbidden in spray cans (Executive Order 1042, 1997). In addition, all compounds marked with "Ae" in the "List of Dangerous Substances" are forbidden (Executive Order 1042, 1997), (Executive Order 923, 2005). Only 36 different substances are allowed as propellants and solvents in spray products, cf. the enclosure in (Executive Order 571, 1984). However, several chemical spray products in the market contain other propellants and solvents than the ones determined in the executive order as the Danish EPA in special cases can grant an exemption. 3.4 Detergent regulationCar care products marketed as detergents, i.e. it is stated on the product that it has a cleaning effect, will as a starting point be comprised by Regulation no. 648, 2004 of the European Parliament and the European Council on washing powder and detergents (Detergent Regulation) with appurtenant changes in the Commission Regulation no. 907, 2006. According to the Detergent Regulation the surface active substances forming part of the products i.a. have to fulfil a number of criteria for aerobic biodegradability. In addition, the packaging (label) on the washing powder and detergents has to contain information about the compounds stated in the following percentage intervals < 5%, 5-15%, 15-30%, >30%. The compounds have to be stated in certain groups such as e.g. phosphates, anionic surface-active agents, cationic surface-active agents, chlorine-based bleaching agents etc. In the same way as preservatives, perfumes have to be stated on the label of consumer products regardless of their concentration in the product (perfume substances have to be stated as “perfume”). In addition, the Detergent Regulation determines that 26 known allergenic perfume substances (cf. Cosmetics Directive, 76/768/EEC and 2003/15/EU) have to be declared by name if their concentration exceeds 0.01% in detergents sold to consumers. 3.5 Limitation in use of PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid)In December 2006, it was decided in the EU to limit the use of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as PFOS is considered to be very persistent, very bio accumulative and toxic. PFOS also has the potential of being transported in the environment across large distances and to have damaging effects. PFOS meets the criteria to be considered as a persistent organic environmental poison (POP) in accordance with the Stockholm Convention. A risk and health assessment of PFOS has demonstrated that it is necessary to reduce the health and environmental risks. According to the PFOS Limitation Directive, it is not allowed to market PFOS or to use it as a substance or in chemical preparations in concentrations of 0.005% (w/w) or more from 27 June 2008. PFOS must not be marketed in semi-processed products or articles or parts of such if the PFOS concentration amounts to 0.1% (w/w) or more, and must not be marketed in fabrics or other coated materials if the PFOS amount is 1 µg/m² or more of the coated material. However, there are exceptions where PFOS may still be used (Directive 2006/122/EU). 3.6 REACH, the new EU Chemical RegulationThe new EU chemical reform, REACH ((EU) No. 1907/2006) came into force on 1 June 2007. REACH is a comprehensive regulation for chemical substances and products containing chemical substances. The Regulation will be implemented gradually in the course of 15 years. REACH i.a. imposes manufacturers and importers to register the chemical substances that form part of their production and/or their products and to pass on information to their customers about which compounds form part of the products and how the compounds can be dealt with in a safe and secure way. [3] Please note that the regulations in table 3.1 were in force in 2007. The existing regulation may be found at www.retsinfo.dk or www.mst.dk
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