Eurofins PPE Bulletin (July - September 2025)
New update to Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs)
On 25 June 2025, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) released the new Candidate List of SVHCs with the addition of three new substances. The current list of SVHCs now contains 250 substances.
See below a table indicating the latest substance addition:
|
Substance name |
EC number |
CAS number |
Reason for inclusion |
Examples of use(s) |
|
1,1,1,3,5,5,5-heptamethyl-3-[(trimethylsilyl)oxy]trisiloxane |
241-867-7 |
17928-28-8 |
Very persistent and very bioaccumulative, vPvB (Article 57e) |
Used as a laboratory reagent, in cosmetics and personal care products, and in perfumes and fragrances |
|
Decamethyltetrasiloxane |
205-491-7 |
141-62-8 |
Very persistent and very bioaccumulative, vPvB (Article 57e) |
Used in cosmetics and personal care products, in lubricants and greases, and in automotive care products |
|
Tetra(sodium/potassium) 7-[(E)-{2-acetamido-4-[(E)-(4-{[4-chloro-6-({2-[(4-fluoro-6-{[4-(vinylsulfonyl)phenyl]amino}-1,3,5-triazine-2-yl)amino]propyl}amino)-1,3,5-triazine-2-yl]amino}-5-sulfonato-1-naphthyl)diazenyl]-5-methoxyphenyl}diazenyl]-1,3,6-naphthalenetrisulfonate; Reactive Brown 51 |
466-490-7 |
- |
Toxic for reproduction (Article 57c) |
Used in textile treatment products and dyes |
Legal obligations for companies using SVHC substances include:
- Suppliers provide customers and consumers with enough information to allow for safe use of products that contain an SVHC above a concentration of 0.1 % (weight by weight)
- Importers and producers of these products must notify the ECHA if their article contains SVHC substances above a concentration of 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) and the substance is present in those products in quantities totalling over 1 tonne per producer/importer per year. The notifications must be submitted within six months of the date that the substance was included in the list.
- Suppliers of substances on the Candidate List, supplied either on their own or in mixtures, must provide their customers with a safety data sheet.
- Under the Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC on waste- WFD), any supplier of an article containing an SVHC in a concentration above 0.1% w/w on the EU market is required to submit a SCIP Notification on that article to ECHA, as of the 5th of January 2021. SCIP is the database holding information on Substances of Concern in articles, as such or in complex objects (products), established under the WFD. The SCIP database complements the existing notification obligations for Candidate List substances in articles subject to REACH regulation and its related communication through the supply chain, according to Articles 7 (2) and 33,
Click here to access the official List from ECHA’s website.
The table below summarises the most recent standard updates and upcoming dates of withdrawal (non-exhaustive):
(*) Date of withdrawal: The latest date by which national standards conflicting with a European Norm (EN) (and Harmonisation Document (HD) for the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC)) must be withdrawn.
|
The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN)/CENELEC |
|||
|
Reference |
Title |
Date of withdrawal (*) |
Supersedes |
|
Eye and face protection for occupational use - Part 1: General requirements - Amendment 1 (ISO 16321-1:2021/Amd 1:2024) |
31 March 2028 |
|
|
|
Mountaineering equipment - Load sharing devices - Safety requirements and test methods |
31 January 2026 |
|
|
|
Equipment for crop protection - Knapsack sprayers - Part 1: Safety and environmental requirements (ISO 19932-1:2025) |
28 February 2026 |
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|
Equipment for crop protection - Knapsack sprayers - Part 2: Test methods (ISO 19932-2:2025) |
28 February 2026 |
||
|
Equipment for crop protection - Knapsack sprayers - Part 3: Inspection of knapsack sprayers in use (ISO 19932-3:2025) |
28 February 2026 |
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Below you will find a monthly summary of product recalls and alerts in Europe (Source: "Safety Gate (RAPEX)") and the United Kingdom (Source: "OPSS")
Safety Gate (RAPEX) (European Commission Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products – Alerts reported by EU national authorities).
The following 18 alerts regarding protective equipment were reported between week 20 and week 30 of 2025.
|
Type of Risk |
Number of alerts |
Notes |
|
Drowning |
1 |
Lifejacket The bladder may become punctured, resulting in reduced buoyancy leading. The product does not comply with the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulation. |
|
Chemical |
1 |
Waterproof bag The plastic material of the product has an excessive concentration of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). The product does not comply with the REACH Regulation. |
|
Cut |
3 |
Protective gloves The gloves do not provide adequate protection against abrasion and can easily tear. Users may assume they are sufficiently protected against sharp objects. The product does not comply with the PPE Regulation or EN 388. |
|
Health risk / other |
1 |
Particle filter mask The product is marked as personal protective equipment but does not have the required compliance documentation or markings to demonstrate that it has been adequately conformity assessed. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the product is safe to use. This product does not comply with the PPE Regulation. |
|
Injuries |
3 |
Climbing harness The product has a buckle on the chest, which is used to close the harness. This buckle can break during normal use, which may lead to the harness opening and the user falling from a height. The product does not comply with the PPE Regulation. |
|
2 |
Safety vest The retro-reflective material does not have the required reflectance values, and the user is not adequately visible in situations where high visibility is essential. The product does not comply with the PPE Regulation or EN 20471. |
|
|
1 |
Safety harness The product lacks the required documentation, markings, and third-party conformity assessment. Therefore, the product may not be used properly, causing the user to fall from a height. The product does not comply with the PPE Regulation. |
|
|
1 |
Safety shoes The product has been advertised as 'anti-smash' and 'anti-puncture' with no evidence of conformity assessment as personal protective equipment. This creates a crushing risk to wearers of the product. The product does not comply with the PPE Regulation. |
|
|
1 |
Climbing equipment The strength of the product is inadequate as the carabiner gate may open with a force below 1kN. This can lead to the climber detaching from the safety line and falling from a height. The product does not comply with the PPE Regulation. |
|
|
1 |
Bicycle helmet The shock-absorbing capacity of the helmet is insufficient. The product does not comply with the PPE Regulation. |
|
|
3 |
Protective vest Due to the lack of effectiveness of the back protection, the risk of injury is increased for its wearer in the event of a mechanical impact. The product does not comply with the PPE Regulation or EN 1621-2. |
Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) issues Product Safety Alerts to the UK market.
The following 12 alerts regarding Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were issued between week 20 and week 30 of 2025.
|
Type of Risk |
Number of alerts |
Notes |
|
Drowning |
2 |
Life Jacket Under certain conditions (such as repeated impacts), the bladder may become punctured, which could result in reduced buoyancy. The product does not meet Regulation 2016/425 on Personal Protective Equipment or the Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018. |
|
Health risk |
1 |
Face Mask There is no evidence to confirm that the mask and filters have undergone the required conformity assessment procedure, the absence of which could expose the user to harmful gases when relied upon to provide protection. The product does not meet Regulation 2016/425 on Personal Protective Equipment or the Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018. |
|
Injuries |
3 |
Climbing Equipment The equipment was not supplied with the required compliance documentation or markings to demonstrate that it has been adequately conformity assessed. The product does not meet Regulation (EU) 2016/425 on Personal Protective Equipment or the Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018. |
|
1 |
Protective Wear Accessories Marketed as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) but was not supplied with the required compliance documentation or markings to demonstrate that it has been adequately conformity assessed. The product does not meet Regulation (EU) 2016/425 on Personal Protective Equipment or the Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018. |
|
|
2 |
Safety trainers Avertised as ‘anti-smash’ and ‘anti-puncture,’ but there is no evidence that it has undergone conformity assessment as PPE, and it is not CE or UKCA marked.
The product does not meet the requirements of the Regulation (EU) 2016/425 on Personal Protective Equipment or the Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018. |
|
|
1 |
Sports protective support belts The belt can fail to retract during use. This could cause the user to fall unexpectedly from a height. The product does not meet Regulation (EU) 2016/425 on Personal Protective Equipment or the Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018. |
|
|
2 |
Climbing harnesses The harness can be put on backwards, and the rope or carabiner can be attached to a non-weight-bearing leg loop elastic band. This places the user at risk of falling from a height. The product does not meet the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 on Personal Protective Equipment or the Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018. |