On a June 27th meeting of the chemical substance review committee a decision to cancel 5 priority assessment chemical substances (PACS) was made. By reviewing the past 3 years’ statistics, the annual amount of these substances manufactured and imported in Japan was less than 10 ton, or the calculation of annual emission to the environment was less than 1 ton nationwide. In this case, such chemicals are considered to pose minor risks to human health and the environment.
Table 1 – Information of the 5 substances to be deleted from the PACS List
SN in the PACS List | Chemical name | Designated on |
61 | Dinitrotoluene | April 1st, 2011 |
63 | 2,4-Di-tert-pentylphenol | |
72 | 4,4'-Diaminodiphenylmethane | |
78 | 3,3'-Dichlorobenzidine | |
88 | Cyclohex-1-ene-1,2-dicarboximidomethyl (1RS)-cis-trans-2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-methylprop-1-enyl)cyclopropanecarboxylate; tetramethrin |
According to Article 11 of the Chemical Substance Control Law (CSCL), the three competent authorities, namely the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Minister of the Environment (MOE), should cancel the designation of the PACS and publicize the cancelation without delay. The official release is expected later this year and the above mentioned 5 substances will be regarded as general chemical substances thereafter.
