Korea newly designates acrylamide as a restricted substance

On December 29, 2021, South Korea Ministry of Environment published an amendment to the Designation of Restricted Substances and Prohibited Substances (Ministry of Environment Notification No. 2021-295). The main points of this amendment are to designate acrylamide, which is used as grout (injected into joints between concrete and tiles to prevent water penetration), as a restricted substance so that it may no longer be handled for grouting purposes, and to strengthen the regulation on heavy metal content in paints. The purpose of this Notification is to stipulate a specific target list of restricted substances and prohibited substances based on the Act on Registration, Evaluation, etc. of Chemicals, which is a superordinate law.

• Restricted substances are substances that cannot be used in specific applications.
• Prohibited substances are substances that cannot be used in all applications.

Amendment to the Designation of Restricted Substances and Prohibited Substances (Ministry of Environment Notification No. 2021-295)
https://www.law.go.kr/admRulLsInfoP.do?admRulSeq=2100000207761

The key contents of the amendment are as follows.

The content standard for mixtures of the restricted substance “lead and mixtures containing 0.06% or more of lead (06-5-8)” shall be strengthened from 0.06% to 0.009%. Also, the scope of the restriction shall be expanded so that this substance, which is currently specified not to be used for paint application on wooden toys used by children under the 13 years old, cannot be used for all paint applications.

• • Restrictions on manufacture and import: effective from July 1, 2022
  • Restrictions on sale, storage, transportation, and use: effective from January 1, 2023.

The use of the restricted substance “hexavalent chromium compounds and mixtures containing 0.1% or more of hexavalent chromium compounds (06-5-10),” which has been restricted for some applications such as architectural paints, shall be restricted for all paint applications.

• • Restrictions on manufacture and import: effective from January 1, 2023
  • Restrictions on sale, storage, transportation, and use: effective from July 1, 2023.

“Acrylamide and mixtures containing 0.1% or more of acrylamide” shall be newly designated as a restricted substance so that they cannot be used for grouting purpose.

• • Restrictions on manufacture and import: effective from July 1, 2023
  • Restrictions on sale, storage, transportation, and use: effective from January 1, 2024.

The Ministry of Environment explained that acrylamide is a substance that was registered by the Act on Registration, Evaluation, etc. of Chemicals in 2018, and that this regulation was established as a result of toxicity assessment based on the documents registered so far.

The press release by the Ministry of Environment regarding this article can be viewed at the following URL (in Korean).
http://me.go.kr/home/web/board/read.do?pagerOffset=40&maxPageItems=10&maxIndexPages=10&searchKey=&searchValue=&menuId=10525&orgCd=&boardId=1498050&boardMasterId=1&boardCategoryId=&decorator=