Request to the Committee for Risk Assessment to prepare a supplementary opinion on the restriction dossier on intentionally-added microplastics | 5 February 2021

In accordance with Article 77(3)(c) of the REACH Regulation, the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) is requested to prepare a supplementary opinion on the proposed restriction on intentionally-added microplastics, taking into account new elements which emerged after RAC had adopted its final opinion in June 2020.

In particular, the RAC is requested to focus on:

(*) The restriction options for infill material for artificial sport pitches, in view of submissions #686 and #811 to the consultation on the draft opinion of the Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC), including:

1. the recently published CEN technical report TR 17519 on risk management measures (RMM) for infill material for artificial sport fields;

2. A recent (2020) study by Magnusson & Mácsik, commissioned by the EMEA Synthetic Turf Council (ESTC), assessing the effectiveness of the RMM proposed in CEN TR17519 to reduce infill releases to < 7g/m2 ;

(*) The derogation for polymers without carbon atoms that was proposed by SEAC in its final opinion.

The RAC opinion should be based on the new information submitted during the 60-day external consultation on the SEAC draft opinion. This should take preferably the form of a supplementary RAC opinion on the Annex XV dossier which supported the restriction on intentionally-added microplastics.