EU Adds Acrylamide as a Candidate to Hazardous Chemicals List

The European Chemicals Agency (EHCA) has announced that in January 2010 its Member State Committee will add acrylamide to the European Union’s Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHC). The chemical by-product of high-temperature cooking processes has been linked to cancer in laboratory rats.

According to ECHA, the Candidate List represents the first step in the authorization procedure to include SVCHs in Annex XIV of the REACH Regulation, after which time “they cannot be placed on the market or used after a date to be set (the so-called ‘sunset date’) unless the company is granted an authorization.” In addition to 14 other substances, the agency has proposed listing acrylamide as a category two carcinogen and a category two mutagen, but “decisions on the need to subject these substances to authorization will be taken later.”