EU Proposes Limits for PCB under POP Recast Regulation

SafeGuardSAutomotive, Electrical & Electronics, Hardgoods, Softlines, Toys and Juvenile ProductsFebruary 25, 2025

SG 033/25

The European Union (EU) has launched a consultation on its proposal to set unintentional trace contaminant (UTC) limit values for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). Comments will be accepted until March 18, 2025.

On February 18, 2025, the European Commission announced a four-week consultation on a draft delegated regulation to amend Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (POP Recast Regulation, consolidated version to October 2024).

The draft delegated regulation revises the ‘specific exemption on intermediate use or other specification’ requirements for PCB falling under Part A to Annex I of the POP Recast Regulation. Key provisions include:

Specifying a UTC value limit for PCB in substances, mixtures and articles to facilitate the application and enforcement of the law
Defining a UTC limit value for PCB in organic pigments, dyes and related mixtures and articles – with the limit to be strengthened in three years

Highlights of the draft delegated regulation are summarized in Table 1.

Substance	Scope	Specific exemption on intermediate use or other specification	Proposed effective date
PCB	Substances Mixtures Articles	≤ 0.2 mg/kg (sum)	Enters into force on the 20th day after publication in the Official Journal of the EU
	Organic pigments and organic dyes Mixtures and articles containing organic pigments or organic dyes¹	≤ 25 mg/kg (sum)	Date of entry into force
		≤ 10 mg/kg (sum)	Three years after date of entry into force
¹ISO 787-28:2019 ‘Determination of total content of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) by dissolution, cleanup and GC-MS

Table 1

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