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Updates:
South Korea’s National Assembly is currently considering the proposal of revising K-CCA, which outlines the designation and management rules for toxic substances that were proposed in early 2023. An internal discussion is ongoing. The official document is expected to be issued in the coming future.
The proposal can be accessed here.
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South Korea’s Ministry of Environment (MoE) is considering revising K-REACH, K-CCA and relevant supporting regulations to incorporate new rules for toxic substance designation and management by August 2023. These new rules were initially proposed in a reform project1. They were mentioned again in the 2023 work plan for South Korea’s chemical safety management2 (2023 Plan).
Highlights of the reform
In terms of skin corrosion, in addition to Category 1A (current designation criterion), chemical substances possessing Category 1B or Category 1C will also be designated as toxic substances. ‘Specific target organ toxicity (single exposure) Category 1’ is a new designation criterion for toxic substances.
If toxic substances that companies handle are of low hazard or in minimal quantities, and the possible chemical accidents they may cause have little impact on the environment and public around the workplace, companies can be exempted from business licensing and reporting requirements under K-CCA.
Based on the hazards to human health/environment (acute or chronic), substances that have been designated as toxic substances after hazard assessments under K-REACH will be categorized into ‘Acute toxic’, ‘Chronic toxic’ and/or ‘Ecological toxic’. Considering the toxicity categories, hazard properties and volume of toxic chemicals handled at workplaces, differential management requirements under K-CCA will apply, e.g., business permits and toxic substances handling facilities management. More specifically,
For substances with acute hazards, such as high-concentration hydrochloric acid that will cause hazards to human health immediately after exposure, stringent safety management should apply based on their handling volume and spread possibility, focusing on accident prevention and response.
For substances with chronic hazards, such as lead at low-concentration that is of risk to human health in case of long-term exposure even in small amounts, management should focus more on reducing exposure to human.
For substances with ecological hazards, such as copper oxide that may cause hazards to aquatic organisms in the event of an accident, management should focus more on minimizing their emissions to the environment, e.g., water collection facilities, waterproofing floors, etc. to block water inflow and soil penetration.
Besides, as mentioned in the reform project and the 2023 Plan, the authority will develop a management plan for substances with chronic hazards.
Background
According to the MoE, since K-REACH came into force in January 2015, the compliance burden has been increasing year by year, especially in the management of toxic substances. As per the official statistics, from 2014 to 2021, the number of designated toxic substances has increased by about 3 times on an annual basis, that is, from 16 designations per year to 50 designations per year. *A total of 722 toxic substances in 2014 → 1,082 toxic substances in 2021.
In addition, the public expressed that the current management requirements for some toxic substances are unreasonable. According to the current rules, if a chemical substance used by the public in daily life is designated as a toxic substance, regardless of hazard properties, it may be subject to the same management requirements as in the workplaces (e.g., wearing personal protective equipment), which causing inconvenience and compliance burdens. In this regard, the MoE held 12 seminars to communicate with the public from March to August 2022.
After listening to extensive public opinions, in late 2022, the MoE announced a reform project to improve the designation rules for toxic substances and differentiate the management requirements based on toxicity categories, hazard properties and handling volumes.
