Key information on around 15,000 chemicals can now be downloaded and used on ECHA website. According to the European Chemicals Agency, researchers, regulatory authorities and businesses can use it – not least to improve the safe use of chemicals, enable innovation and help avoid the unnecessary testing of chemicals on animals.
ECHA communiqué
ECHA publishes information on around 15,000 chemical substances registered under REACH on its website. This information covers the intrinsic properties of each substance and their impact on human health and the environment. The data comes directly from companies who make or import the substances and have registered them with ECHA.
The Agency is now making selected data available for download with the aim of increasing its use and improving the safe use of chemicals world-wide. The data is available as a IUCLID 6 database. It includes specific parts of the information published online, respecting the ownership rights of companies who submitted the data. For example, the downloadable data includes the results from studies conducted by companies, but not the full summary. In addition, the material does not include the data companies have claimed confidential in their registrations. This corresponds to a limited amount of data for around 2% of dossiers submitted to ECHA.
Researchers and regulators could use the data to develop new ways of determining the toxicity of chemicals minimising the need to test them on animals. Companies can use it to improve the way in which they use chemicals, for example, by improving their safety data …