20. June 2019
Oekopol Germany recently conducted an independent review of the bluesign® CHEMICAL ASSESSMENT approach with regard to the type of chemicals, the applications and intended use. Their conclusions were presented during the bluesign® meeting at the CHEMICAL EXPERT GROUP in April of this year.
The chemical assessment by Bluesign is based on a full risk assessment including a complete hazard assessment of all chemical substances as well as an exposure scenario calculation. The chemicals assessed are from available chemical products traded with commercial names, which are in general a mixture of chemical substances, by-products and impurities. A prerequisite to the full risk assessment is an on-site bluesign® COMPANY ASSESSMENT of the chemical supplier including a full check of product stewardship management. The review includes, but is not limited to: substance bans, the limitation of substance groups in mixtures, the limitation of substance use-based mixture classification for environmental, occupational health and consumer safety, the evaluation of air and water emission data, as well as consumer safety limits for final products.
The conclusion in summary
- The most relevant substances and substance properties are excluded on a hazard basis (SVHC, NGO lists, CMR)
› The hazard barrier eliminates substances of high relevance from supply chains - Risk considerations ensure remaining hazards are adequately controlled
› Additional risk considerations can lead to unacceptable situations (consumer product limits, occupational limits, specific classifications) - Other risk considerations trigger the need for communication of adequate risk management in the supply chain
› Bluesign is suited to improve the installed risk management for chemicals used in the supply chain - The information needed on chemicals is provided by system!
› The system allows independent evaluations by third parties at the recipe level including impurities of raw materials (thus trade secrets can be kept)
