Staying ahead of chemical regulations: Overcoming 3 common challenges
With chemical regulations evolving rapidly, companies must anticipate and adapt to new rules. Discover key strategies and solutions from industry experts to stay compliant and ahead of the curve.
Are you prepared for the next wave of chemicals regulations? As global rules tighten, companies must stay ahead of the curve to predict and prepare for changes. This is crucial when navigating three common challenges:
- Keeping up with PFAS regulations: A surge in regulation restricting the use of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is impacting companies in an increasingly wide range of sectors.
- Inheriting regulatory issues: Business growth through mergers or acquisitions often involves new products or processes, creating additional requirements and obligations.
- Lack of jurisdictional knowledge: Expansion into new markets adds complexity, requiring business to navigate unfamiliar regulatory environments.
These issues were explored in our recent webinar, Closing the gap: How to prepare for and predict new chemical regulations. Sharing insights through their experience supporting global companies and showcasing anonymized case studies, Enhesa’s VP for Sustainable Chemistry, Jillian Stacy, and Product Intelligence analyst, Stacey Bowers, shared how companies can effectively address the challenges.
Read on for a summary of the key insights, strategies and solutions discussed.
Challenge #1 – Keeping up with PFAS regulations
PFAS legislation comprises one third of all bills currently being tracked at US state level, with restrictions on the use of PFAS substances in cookware, firefighting foam, food packaging, cleaning and personal care products a common theme. But restriction of PFAS is very much a global concern.
In recent years, Canada, the European Union, Australia and Japan have taken regulatory and legislative activity on PFAS substances, with many more prohibitions in the pipeline globally. The result is a complex global patchwork of unharmonized approaches to PFAS regulation, impacting a broad range of products and businesses – with companies struggling to keep their business compliant.
Case study
One US-based manufacturer of information technology equipment (ITE) was struggling to monitor the latest proposed and enacted PFAS bills globally. By tracking developments by state and at a regional level, it was left with an inconsistent, incomplete picture of the latest regulations and gaps in its knowledge.
Enhesa provides it—and companies with the same challenges — with a number of solutions to help it stay ahead of upcoming regulations.
Access to the latest on key developments in chemicals regulations
Through Chemical Watch News & Insight, Enhesa Product Intelligence’s team of journalists provides impartial reporting and analysis on the regulatory and non-regulatory drivers impacting chemicals in products globally. The team publishes developments on PFAS and other substances as they emerge, helping companies like the above make timely decisions and avoid the risk of non-compliance.
A clear understanding of what regulatory changes mean for your business
Regulatory Database is a library of product regulations, which are constantly monitored, analyzed, and updated by 160 in-house experts. Offering comprehensive data on chemical regulations across 279 jurisdictions, Regulatory Database helps companies interpret how regulatory changes could affect their products – now and in the future.
Assurance that your team is up to date – with alerts on changes to the topics most relevant to your business
On Enhesa’s Chemical Watch News & Insight and Regulatory Database platforms, users can access pre-built and customizable ‘lenses’, which filter content to specific regions, topics, sectors, and substances. By setting up appropriate lenses, the company above received the latest PFAS-related content directly, both through its view of the platform and by email.
Instant list screening to see if your chemicals are regulated or restricted
Global legislation differs in its definition of PFAS and in the specific CAS RNs covered in regulations. In fact, many lists focus on compounds or chemical groups without specifying individual chemicals’ CAS RNs. For example, the Washington State Chemicals of High Concern for Children Restricted Substances List (RSL) includes 85 identified chemicals, which, when expanded, actually represent more than 12,000 chemicals companies should avoid. There is a danger that companies inadvertently replace one PFAS substance with another.
Chemical Assess, a Sustainable Chemistry offering, allows companies to quickly and easily screen every chemical they use in products and processes directly against a maintained and updated roster of more than 500 regulatory, authoritative, and watch lists – which includes a comprehensive PFAS chemical group list. Customers are alerted when relevant lists are updated or new lists are added, reducing the administrative burden and time required for screening chemicals against priority lists.
Challenge #2 – Inheriting regulatory issues
When a business merges or acquires another business, it takes on additional regulatory compliance issues, including the need to understand the risks of new products and processes, and the need to do a deep dive into supply chains to avoid potential risks.
Case study
This was the case when a European manufacturer of lamps and lighting acquired a manufacturer of breast pumps, baby bottles, and sippy cups. With new products now within its portfolio, the company needed to quickly understand which global PFAS regulations were applicable to ensure compliance. It also needed to be able to share requirements easily with its designers, vendors, and testing partners.
Monitor and manage regulations that matter to your products globally
Product Intelligence’s Registers are collaborative workspaces within Regulatory Database, which allow customers to track, monitor, and manage relevant global regulations. Dynamic lists of regulations can be commented on, assigned and shared internally through the workspace. In this example, the Product Intelligence analyst team worked with the European lighting company to create a series of registers to capture the new regulations that applied.
Identifying where problematic substances come from in the supply chain
Even companies with a good handle on the chemicals in their business and the regulations around them can be caught off guard through a merger or acquisition, especially if testing reveals problematic chemicals present in the new product lineup. While finished-product testing will show that PFAS is present, it won’t help you pinpoint where they have come from.
Supply Chain Connect allows businesses to more easily and consistently obtain full formulation information from their suppliers, including ingredients and impurities. The platform overcomes the main challenges of sourcing this chemical information, providing peace of mind to suppliers and a more comprehensive assessment of chemicals to companies. With better insight into the potential risks that may be hiding in supply chains, companies can work out where potential problematic chemicals are present, compare suppliers, consider alternatives, and more confidently make decisions on which chemicals to use.
Challenge #3 – Moving into new markets
When expanding into and exploring new markets, businesses face unfamiliar regulatory hurdles and must anticipate potential risks, such as new regulations or RSLs.
Case study
A manufacturer of food contact materials (FCMs) and articles planned to sell its products to 17 new markets, therefore entering 17 unfamiliar jurisdictions. To avoid the risk of non-compliance, financial and reputational damage, the company needed to quickly understand how PFAS restrictions varied from its existing markets.
Understanding how restrictions in new jurisdictions compare to your baseline
The food manufacturer relied on summaries provided by Product Intelligence’s Regulatory Database to understand when and where a jurisdiction’s regulations are based on, or identical to, those of another jurisdiction. For example, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK tend to follow EU regulations. On the other hand, PFAS proposals vary wildly across France, Belgium and Denmark.
It also used the RoHS regulatory data tool, a Focused Compliance Solution, to compare similarities and differences in RoHS regulation between the EU and California. In doing so, it understood when re-design, labeling or testing may be necessary for its small kitchen appliances.
See where your chemicals are regulated in the world
For companies like the above, there are options to keep track of the chemicals associated with specific chemical groups. Chemical Assess’s list screening feature allows companies to screen chemicals against global lists to know where restrictions for a company’s chemicals exist in the world. These lists include critical chemical restrictions, regulatory, and advisory lists, and companies’ own priority lists. With this instant, on-demand screening, users quickly identify chemicals of concern for their new markets and eliminate the need to search and track RSLs within each jurisdiction.
Get ahead of chemical regulations
For more information on how Enhesa Product Intelligence and Sustainable Chemistry can help your business predict and prepare for emerging chemical regulations, watch the webcast recording.