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Chemicals Coffee Time Monthly, March 2025

Posted
Updated
ByEmma

Dear Reader,

I hope this finds you safe and well. The flood of changes from ECHA continues, so we’ve a lot to discuss this month.

Hearing from the HSE, DEFRA and the UK

Changes to HSE helpdesk phone line

A recent HSE email https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKHSE/bulletins/3d56093 explains that this phoneline (0330 159 1985) will only be used for UK-REACH going forward, and it will be Helpdesk support via email for:

I’ve only called this phone number once, on an urgent REACH query where I thought I might get a faster response than by email, but the query was more complicated than the DEFRA chap who answered the phone could manage, and I was advised to contact the Helpdesk via email instead 🙂 !

UK REACH fees increase

Hat tip to Nicola Kaye for spotting this initially, and Mark Selby for reminding me, but the UK-REACH fees have changed recently, and come into effect on 1st April, see https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/299/made/data.pdf . As the fees are coming in for the new financial year, we should expect a new consolidated version of the UK post-Brexit version of Commission Regulation (EC) No 340/2008 which will clarify the situation.

Some important things to note:

  • It’s not just changes in registration fees, it includes authorisation fees, legal entity changes etc
  • REACH registration fees to the HSE will become a blanket ÂŁ2,222, regardless of tonnage band and whether you’re a Lead or Member Registrant, meaning winners (the >1000 tonnage band is reducing hugely from ÂŁ22,064 for joint submission to ÂŁ2,222) and losers (1 – 10 tonne fees are increasing by 95%, from ÂŁ1,138 to ÂŁ2,222)
  • But the SME discounts are still available

Keeping an Eye on ECHA and the EU

3 new Candidates for SVHC status

Yes, that is 3 new candidates to go onto the Candidate List. Many thanks to Phil Rowley, Steven Brennan and other readers for highlighting this issue.

The substances are:

  • 1,1,1,3,5,5,5-heptamethyl-3-[(trimethylsilyl)oxy]trisiloxane, CAS 17928-28-8
  • decamethyltetrasiloxane, CAS 141-62-8
  • Reactive Brown 51, EC no 466-490-7

You can comment on these substances here: https://echa.europa.eu/substances-of-very-high-concern-identification, and the consultation on all three closes on the 14th April.

As Phil notes “More SVHC proposals – I wonder whether these will subsequently be withdrawn?”

2 new Harmonised Classification Proposals

Yet more EU Harmonised Classification Proposals (comment if you are in the UK too):

  • trimagnesium diphosphide; magnesium phosphide (EC 235-023-7, CAS 12057-74-8); and
  • aluminium phosphide (EC 244-088-0, CAS 20859-73-8).

These consultations are open until 2nd May 2025. The full list of active consultations are available here: https://echa.europa.eu/harmonised-classification-and-labelling-consultation

Another Harmonised Classification proposal – Cannabidiol (CBD)

Hat tip to Steven Brennan on this proposal from ANSES, which would see Cannabidiol classified as Repr. 1B, H360FD and Lact., H362, details at https://echa.europa.eu/harmonised-classification-and-labelling-consultation/-/substance-rev/79311/del/50/col/synonymDynamicField_1350/type/asc/pre/1/view .

I’m not sure if this is the form of cannabis which is used in all those trendy “cannabis oils” which don’t contain any THC, but if it is, and the classification goes through, then that could be an entire industry wiped out. If you have any information on this proposal, I’d be happy to publish this, as it seems to have come out of nowhere.

Alphanumeric ECHA List numbers

The REACH-IT website has some news which I had missed, hat tip Amy Fearon of WSP for highlighting this on Linked In.

ECHA write:

New format for list numbers

The main substance identifier in REACH-IT is EC/list number. List numbers in their current format, xxx-xxx-x (where x = numerical digit), are soon running out. After external consultation and careful consideration, ECHA has decided to change the list number to alphanumerical format, keeping the original length. Example of the new format: A00-000-0 This change will take place during early summer. Note that the change may affect your company’s recording systems outside REACH-IT.

This seemed a bit ambiguous, but luckily there is more information in a recent ECHA newsletter:

Companies may need to take action to adapt their recording systems outside REACH-IT to accommodate the new format. List numbers assigned before the format change will not be affected.

So it looks like all of the existing EC numbers (which are legal identifiers, along with CAS numbers and Index numbers which identify unique Harmonised Classifications) will remain unchanged. These start with the digits 2,3,4 or 5.

The current List numbers, which start with the digits 6, 7, 8 or 9 will also remain as they are, meaning that you will still need to add a separate legal identifying number on the label and SDS if you are using a List number in these documents.

I suppose we should be grateful that it will be easier to identify new List numbers because they will start with a letter, but the confusion which ECHA caused industry by creating their administrative list numbers based on the EC format of XXX-XXX-X is still going to continue indefinitely for the affected substances.

The other issue is that the change from strictly numeric to alpha-numeric List numbers may cause considerable problems within software. As we discussed at the Spring Meeting of the Chemical Regulations Self Help Group, if you have set up a number format to accept numbers only, you will have to go in and change that code to accept letters or numbers. This may affect ERP software like SAP or inventory software, as well as the more obvious classification/ SDS software packages.

Some group EU C&L notifications at risk of annulment

ECHA’s news team have posted this explainer (which doesn’t actually explain which notifications are at risk and why!): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/european-chemicals-agency_annulment-of-cl-notifications-for-registered-activity-7309933372129079298-b7g_/

According to Alison Potts of WSP, the reasons are in the CLP Legislative Act, and we will publish a full explanation from her in our weekly email newsletter on 4th April (sign up here if you’re not already on the mailing list: https://chemicalscoffeetime.co.uk/sign-up-to-chemicals-coffee-time-weekly/ )

Around the World

Chemical snippets

Process safety corner

Recent incidents:

Insights:

Infographic of the Month

An excellent infographic on chemistry, The Map of Chemistry, from a website called Open Culture (hat tip Simon Maechling): The Map of Chemistry.pdf .

This is actually from a 12 minute animation on Chemistry at https://www.openculture.com/2017/05/the-map-of-chemistry-new-animation-summarizes-the-entire-field-of-chemistry-in-12-minutes.html#google_vignette .

The Weekend Watch/ Read

Industry scientists are not biased – an excellent explanation from Simon Maechling: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/simon-maechling_i-work-in-industry-people-assume-that-because-activity-7295418273070800897-pYoB. And another post from Simon about the abuses of science: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/simon-maechling_i-am-a-scientist-every-time-i-see-a-viral-activity-7297600667165057025-dV-y

The Weekend Recipe

As well as using up the freezer food for Lent I’m also working through our supply of older tinned food (which is essential when you live in the countryside on a road which can be cut off by snowdrifts). So here’s a throwback recipe to my famous chickpea curry recipe, which Mike and I ate a lot of when we were paying off our mortgage.

Chickpea curry :

Serves 2 as a main meal, or increase ingredients pro rata (except the curry powder)

  • 1 400g tin chick peas (or 400g cooked chickpeas made from dried ones, cheaper)
  • 1 400g tin tomatoes (I use chopped as it’s easier, although slightly more expensive)
  • 1 small or half a medium onion (white or red)
  • ginger – about a thumb sized piece, chopped
  • a clove or two of garlic, chopped (optional if you don’t like garlic)
  • 1/2 tablespoon medium curry powder (Tesco, Schwartz etc) (you can add more after tasting)
  • Small amount of sunflower or vegetable oil
  • Salt to taste

Method:

Fry the chopped onion in about a tablespoon of oil until cooked. Briefly fry off the ginger and garlic, take care not to let the garlic burn. Add the curry powder and stir round to fry for a short while, then add the drained chick peas and stir well to coat them in the curry powder (you can keep the chickpea water or “aqua faba” to use as an egg replacement in vegan recipes – it really does work!).

Then add the tin of tomatoes. Bring everything to the boil, and check the flavour – add salt to taste, and if there’s not enough curry flavour for you, try a few drops of tabasco to really spice it up. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Technically, the curry is now finished (if you’re in a hurry), or if you cook it for another quarter of an hour or so, the flavours will develop a bit more. This freezes well.

You can eat this on toast instead of beans (especially useful if you like Heinz beans, but they don’t like you), with naan or rice, and if you’re a carnivore you can serve it with sausages, or alongside a meaty curry.

Full disclosure – the original recipe for chickpea curry was from my ex-husband Tony Murfin of Copper Consultancy but I have tweaked it over the years.

Less than 2 months to go until ChemUK 2025!

We are now only 2 months away from ChemUK 2025, https://www.chemicalukexpo.com/, even bigger than last year! I will be representing the Chemical Regulations Self Help Group on stand E139, it would be great to see you there.

Many thanks to Ian Stone and his team for supporting the work of the group, we truly appreciate it. #chemexpouk

Reasons to be Cheerful

For Lent, I thought we’d have a series of videos showing the wonders of chemistry.

And if you haven’t been watching Dancing on Ice, here’s Anton Ferdinand with his dance partner Annette Dytrt and “Bring Him Home”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2v8OwVCbmk . And a magical vocal rendition of the same song from Colm Wilkinson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsYnhVITf9E .

Many thanks for reading this LinkedIn newsletter, and many thanks to everyone who has contributed, through sending in links, queries, comments etc. If you have anything you’d like to share, please email me or send a DM, and I’ll do my best to include it in the next Chemicals Coffee Time Monthly.

It would be great if you’d like to subscribe to this newsletter on LinkedIn if you haven’t already, and if you want to get the news early, and much, much more (because we can’t include everything in this monthly round-up), you can sign up to our weekly email newsletter here: https://chemicalscoffeetime.co.uk/. (This website includes the email archive, with both open-access and subscriber-only content).

Chemicals Coffee Time Monthly and Weekly have grown over time to support the chemical industry, and are free to read and free from adverts. If you’d like to support our work, why not treat yourself to one of our new Chemicals Coffee Time mugs? https://chemicalscoffeetime.co.uk/product-range-mug/ .

Look forward to chatting to you in late April or early May.

Kind regards,

Janet

Janet Greenwood, TT Environmental Ltd

PS We’re happy for you to use this content in your own social media or newsletters, as long as you credit Chemicals Coffee Time. Please note that this newsletter highlights issues which may be of interest to your business, but is not intended as specific advice. We always recommend that you should do your own research. If you need consultancy help, please book a Quick Consultancy Call here: (https://chemicalscoffeetime.co.uk/quick-consultancy-calls/), or Quick Consultancy Email here: https://chemicalscoffeetime.co.uk/quick-consultancy-emails/

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