Japan to Update Designation of Poisonous and Deleterious Substances

In accordance with the draft amendments to Order for Designation of Poisonous and Deleterious Substances made public on May 16, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has proposed:

1. To add 2 poisonous substances, namely

   •     Benzyl chloride (CAS#100-44-7)

   •     Methanesulfonyl chloride (CAS#124-63-0)

2. To add 6 deleterious substances, namely

   •     Hydroxyacetic acid (CAS#79-14-1)

   •     Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (CAS#298-07-7)

   •     Mono-n-butyltin trichloride (CAS#1118-46-3)

   •     2-sec-Butylphenol (CAS#89-72-5)

   •     Acetic anhydride (CAS#108-24-7)

   •     Maleic anhydride (CAS#108-31-6)

3. To add the following specifications of an existing poisonous substance, 2-mercaptoethanol (CAS#60-24-2):

   •     2-mercaptoethanol (<= 10%) is regarded as a deleterious substance; and

   •     2-mercaptoethanol (<= 0.01%) in containers <= 20L is not regarded as a deleterious substance

4. To specify that ammonium metavanadate (CAS#7803-55-6) <= 0.01% is not regarded as a deleterious substance
   

5. To cancel the designation of 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl [(1S)-1-cyano-2-methylpropyl]carbamate (CAS#951242-61-8) as a deleterious substance.

Public consultation will end on June 14. It is expected that the official announcement will be made at the end of June and enter into force from July 1. A grace period until Sep 30, 2016 has been granted for related products being manufactured, imported or circulated on the Japanese market.

 According to MHLW's announcement on July 1, 11 opinions have been collected but had no impact on the authority's final decision. The amendment has been effective since July 1.