Updates: On January 14, 2022, Australian Government published the completed 24 evaluation statements. Compared with the draft statements, adjustments were made to the evaluation statements of some chemicals based on the information provided by the public. More details can be accessed here.
On October 22, 2021, Australian Government published a notice[1] to seek public feedback on the draft evaluation statements of 24 types of chemicals in accordance with the Rolling Action Plan[2]. The consultation will end on December 17, 2021.
As clarified in the notice, most of the evaluated chemicals are used in adhesive and sealants, lubricants and greases, paints and coatings, air care products, plastic and polymer products, etc. Each of these types of industrial chemicals has its own detailed draft evaluation statement, mainly covering the following contents:
name, CAS registry number of the subject of the evaluation;
summary of the evaluation, such as health hazards, health hazard classification, health risk;
information on managing identified risks;
introduction and use of the chemical (Australia/International);
regulatory status of the chemical (Australia/International); and
health hazard information; etc.
It is also stated in these draft evaluation statements that the information of the evaluated chemicals, including recommended hazard classifications, should be used by a person conducting a business or undertaking at a workplace (such as an employer) to determine the appropriate controls under the Model Work Health and Safety Regulations. Control measures that could be implemented to manage the risk arising from dermal, ocular and inhalation exposure to the chemical, are clearly outlined in the draft evaluation statements. According to these draft evaluations, there are several kinds of recommendations to different departments, including:
1. Australia Government recommends the Safe Work Australia (SWA) update the Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS) to add new classifications relevant to work health and safety, involving ten types of evaluated chemical substances: 1H-Imidazole, 1-ethenyl- (N-vinyl imidazole); 1H-Imidazole, 1-methyl-; 2,5-Cyclohexadiene-1,4-dione (p-benzoquinone); 3-Cyclohexene-1-methanol, 2,4,6-trimethyl- (isocyclogeraniol); benzenepropanol; C7-C12 linear alpha-beta unsaturated aldehydes; maleic acid; maleic acid salts; mercaptobenzimidazoles and their zinc salts; and phenol, 2,4-dichloro-.
2. Australia Government calls on the Department of Health (DoH) to add these types of chemical substances below into the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP):
Acetylpropionyl and diacetyl: to prohibit its use in products intended to be inhaled;
Lactic acid isomers: to restrict the concentration and pH of the chemicals in cosmetic products;
Maleic acid esters (medium to long chain): to prohibit or restrict the concentration of these chemicals in cosmetic products;
Terpenes and terpenoids, sinpine: to append the following content - 'Note 9: The aspiration hazard classification should only be applied if the kinematic viscosity criteria for aspiration classification in the GHS is met'; and
Toluenesulfonamides: for the DoH to recommend that the delegate of the Secretary for Poisons Scheduling refine the current entry for "sulfonamides" to better define its widespread use.
3. Australia Government gave no recommendations to six types of evaluated chemical substances since the identified environment risks of these chemicals are considered to be manageable within existing risk management frameworks, including: bronopol and bronidox; butylated hydroxyanisole and related antioxidants; chlorocresol and chloroxylenol; isomers of octahydro tetramethyl naphthalenyl ethanone (OTNE); lead soaps; and linear alkylbenzene sulfonates.
4. Australia Government also calls on industry to provide relevant information (such as the use and the volume of use) of the following three types of chemicals:
