Proposed Methanol Carcinogenic Level In France

Recently, the French government submitted an application to the European Chemicals authority (ECHA), which requested that formaldehyde (formaldehyde) upgrading is classified into 1 types of carcinogens. ECHA said that the dossier on formaldehyde is being processed. If the proposal meets the consistency check and passed by the MSC, it will be consulted by the public at the end of this year or early next year.

Sant Environnement France (ASEF), French health and environment organization, said the proposal was not based on new classification. Label and Packaging regulations To determine whether formaldehyde should be classified as 1A or 1B.

It is reported that in 2005, France suggested that formaldehyde be divided into 1 kinds of carcinogens, the reason is: R49 inhalation can cause cancer. However, the European Chemicals Bureau failed to agree on that. The working group noted that the new annex XV dossier contained more recent studies supporting the proposed classification. At the same time, ASEF also pointed out that the WHO International Cancer Research Organization (IARC) has divided formaldehyde into 1 types of human carcinogens.

At present, according to CLP regulations, formaldehyde belongs to 3 kinds of carcinogens in the EU level, belonging to DSD (dangerous substance directive), and may cause carcinogenic effects on human health, which has attracted wide attention. But the information about formaldehyde carcinogenesis is not enough to support the full evaluation argument, or is not enough for a more rigorous classification. Therefore, a higher level of formaldehyde exposure is permitted.

FormaCare, a European Industry Association, said it is not necessary to reclassify formaldehyde. However, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) believes that although many scientific research and assessment do not see the risk of formaldehyde, some special use restrictions in the formaldehyde industry indicate the trend of formaldehyde regulation and classification in Europe.

France has submitted the REACH registration dossier, but no details of the classification will be published for the time being.