SG 102/24
The EU is planning to add two substances to its legislation on persistent organic pollutants (POP).
In the last two months, the European Commission website announced two separate consultations on the proposed listing of dechlorane plus and methoxychlor under Part A of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (POP Recast Regulation, consolidated version to August 2023).
To reinforce the application and enforcement of Article 3(1)(b) to the POP Recast Regulation, an unintentional trace contaminant (UTC) value has been set for these two POP chemicals when they are in substances, mixtures and articles.
Highlights of these two draft regulations to amend Part A of Annex I to the POP Recast Regulation are summarized in Table 1.
| Substance | Scope | Specific exemption on intermediate use or other specification | Proposed effective date |
| Dechlorane Plus, including its syn- and anti-isomers¹ |
| ≤ 1 mg/kg (0.0001%) as UTC | Applies from February 26, 2025 |
| Methoxychlor, referring to any possible isomer of dimethoxydiphenyltrichloroethane or any combination thereof |
| ≤ 0.01 mg/kg (0.000001%) as UTC | Twentieth day following publication in the Official Journal of the EU |
Table 1
¹Contains time-limited derogations for the following applications:
- Aerospace, space and defence applications until February 26, 2030
- Medical imaging and radiotherapy devices and installations until February 26, 2030
- Replacement parts for, and repair of, 1) land-based motor vehicles, 2) marine, garden and forestry machines, 3) aerospace, space and defence applications, 4) medical imaging applications and 5) radiotherapy devices and installations, where dechlorane plus was initially used in their manufacture, until the end of their service life or until December 31, 2043, whichever comes earlier
Dechlorane Plus is primarily used as a flame retardant in adhesives, sealants and polymers as well as an extreme additive in greases. It is also a substance of very high concern (SVHC) on the Candidate List under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 ‘Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, REACH).
Methoxychlor is an organochlorine pesticide that has been used as a replacement for its structural analog dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT).
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