Following ANSES’s proposal, France submitted to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) on February 3, 2020 a dossier proposing the identification of Resorcinol (CE 203-585-2; CAS 108-46-3) as a substance of very high concern (SVHC), within the meaning of the REACH Regulation[1].
Indeed, as part of the National Strategy on Endocrine Disruptors, ANSES assessed the endocrine disruption potential of resorcinol for human health. ANSES’s expert appraisal showed that resorcinol had an impact on thyroid function, leading to deleterious effects, particularly in pregnant women, and concluded that it was a proven endocrine disruptor. In the light of this work, the Agency also considered that resorcinol fulfilled the conditions for identifying it as an SVHC.
On June 16, 2020, the Member State Committee (MSC) of ECHA concluded that there is scientific evidence of possible serious effects on human health due to hypothyroidism induced by this substance. The Committee thus recognizes that resorcinol is an endocrine disruptor, as defined by the World Health Organization.
Some Member States have however judged that the level of concern induced by the toxicity of resorcinol on the thyroid was not equivalent to that necessary to identify the substance as very worrying within the meaning of the REACH regulation.
This is the first time that a substance has been proposed as an SVHC because of its thyroid disrupting effects in humans before the Committee.
In the absence of unanimity from the MSC, the final decision is referred to the REACH Committee of the European Commission. After receiving the opinion of the MSC, the Commission has three months to prepare a draft proposal on identification as SVHC.
[1] Under the REACH regulation, a substance classified as SVHC (of very high concern) entails stricter conditions for its use in Europe, in particular, an obligation to notify ECHA of its presence in consumer articles.