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[December 2009]
Refractory Ceramics Appear On New ECHA ‘Very High Concern’ List
The Member State Committee of The European Chemicals Agency – or ECHA – have identified 15 new chemical substances for the Candidate List of substances of very high concern. The List will formally be updated in January 2010.
The Member State Committee agreed unanimously that 15 new substances of very high concern (SVHC) should be put on the Candidate List. Six of these substances were identified in a written procedure and eight at a Committee meeting in Helsinki held from 2-4 December. One substance, lead chromate, will be included in the Candidate List without involvement of the Member State Committee, because ECHA received no comments on its hazardous properties in the preceding public consultation. ECHA will include the 15 substances in the Candidate List in January 2010. Decisions on the need to subject these substances to authorisation will be taken later.
Two listed substances are of particular interest to the industry. Firstly:
Aluminosilicate Refractory Ceramic Fibres (fibres covered by index number 650-017-00-8 in Annex VI, part 3, table 3.2 of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008). Described here as Carcinogen, category 2, they also fulfil the two following conditions:
a) Al2O3 and SiO2 are present within the following concentration ranges:
• Al2O3: 43.5 – 47 % w/w, and SiO2: 49.5 – 53.5 % w/w,
or
• Al2O3: 45.5 – 50.5 % w/w, and SiO2: 48.5 – 54 % w/w,
b) fibres have a length weighted geometric mean diameter less two standard geometric errors of 6 or less micrometers (μm).Refractory ceramic fibres are used for high-temperature insulation, almost exclusively in industrial applications (insulation of industrial furnaces and equipment, equipment for the automotive and aircraft/aerospace industry) and in fire protection (buildings and industrial process equipment).
The second listed ceramic product is:
Zirconia Aluminosilicate Refractory Ceramic Fibres (fibres covered by index number 650-017-00-8 in Annex VI, part 3, table 3.2 of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008). Similarly described as Carcinogen, category 2, they fulfil the two following conditions:
a) Al2O3, SiO2 and ZrO2 are present within the following concentration ranges:
• Al2O3: 35 – 36 % w/w, and
• SiO2: 47.5 – 50 % w/w, and
• ZrO2: 15 - 17 % w/w,
b) fibres have a length weighted geometric mean diameter less two standard geometric errors of 6 or less micrometers (μm).These are deemed to fall into the same product and use area as the aluminosilicates first mentioned.
ENDS