Government Chemist
The European Commission has published a new Regulation which lays down a further series of analytical methods to be used for the characterisation of multi-component substances under the REACH legislation.
Appropriate analytical procedures need to be used to properly characterise a substance in any registration submitted to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). Complex mixtures, substances of unknown or variable composition (UVCBs) require more involved testing to determine their composition than simple substances.
The list of methods published is comprehensive. Registrants carrying out analytical testing as part of their registration will need to follow these procedures, where applicable. Registrants not possessing the appropriate laboratory capability will need to find a laboratory with the relevant capability; such laboratories should, ideally, be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 for the methods concerned.