EU Updates List of Harmonized Standards for Nickel Release in Annex XVII of REACH Item 27!
On 20 April 2021, the European Commission published the latest reference standard list (harmonized standard list) for testing the release of nickel in Annex XVII of REACH (EC) No 1907/2006, item 27.
This list supersedes the previous list of reference criteria (2017/C 011/02) published on 13 January 2017 in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
In this update, the standard EN 12472:2005+A1:2009 for the simulation of accelerated wear and corrosion of coated articles has been updated to EN 12472:2020.
Compared to the 2009 edition, EN 12472:2020 contains the following important updates:
1. The particulate material used to prepare the wear medium is changed to "100% coconut shell" (instead of "coconut, walnut, peanut and almond shell, mixed by mass ratio of 1:1:1:1");
2. The purity requirement of DL-lactic acid for the preparation of corrosive media was increased from "more than 85%" to "more than 88%".
3. Scope of application of the standard: It is made clear that this standard does not apply to articles with nickel-containing external coatings, and articles placed in pierced ears and other body parts
With immediate effect (from 20 April 2021), the list of test criteria used to demonstrate compliance with the nickel release requirements of Annex XVII of REACH, Item 27, will be as follows: