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European PET group join antimony data gathering effort - Arhive

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European PET group to join antimony data gathering effort  European PET group join antimony data gathering effort   

European PET group join antimony data gathering effortThe Committee of PET Manufacturers in Europe (CPME) has announced its intention to join a campaign to generate exposure information on selected REACH registered antimony substances.

The trade group’s statement comes as Germany’s Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Baua) assesses the potential carcinogenicity of five antimony compounds. This could result in the reclassification of one or more of them.European PET group join antimony data gathering effort

In response to Baua’s assessment, the International Antimony Association (i2a) said in May that it is to run a data gathering campaign next year.

And now CPME has committed to taking part and urges others along the supply chain to do so. Its members use antimony as a catalyst in the production of polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) resin, used to make plastic bottles. PET is also used to make fibres and films.

Mike Neal, chair of the CPME’s health and safety committee, said ensuring the safe use of antimony is important for the sector, for the sake of its manufacturing staff and consumers. But also because there are issues with its two alternatives – titanium and germanium catalysts.European PET group join antimony data gathering effort

The available titanium catalysts, which are acceptable for films and fibres, are currently not suitable for PET resin, Mr Neal told Chemical Watch. They have not “solved an unacceptable yellow colouration in the polymer”.European PET group join antimony data gathering effort

Meanwhile, germanium is expensive and not as abundant as antimony. “There is not enough to cover and replace antimony catalysts across the global PET industry,” he said.

New data

Mr Neal said the European PET industry has already been involved in gathering data on antimony. This dates from the European Food Safety Authority’s (Efsa) risk assessment on antimony trioxide migration limits from food contact materials around 2004.

But animal toxicity studies, released last year, raised questions on whether current exposure limits are adequately protecting health and if other measures should be adopted to safeguard workers handling antimony substances.

CPME decided to join the campaign because the available data on antimony trioxide is relatively old and only covers the inhalable size particles.

“The PET sector seized the value of fulfilling the exposure data requirements, triggered by the more recent scientific and regulatory considerations. This is a great example of product stewardship, that i2a hopes will inspire many more actors of the antimony value chain,” i2a said.European PET group join antimony data gathering effort

The animal test results, based only on respirable particles (<4µm), are driving authorities to consider whether exposure limits in workplace aerosols are required for this size particles, as opposed to the traditionally measured inhalable size (<100µm), it said.

Therefore, the i2a campaign will focus its efforts on generating data for:

  • inhalable and respirable size particles of occupational aerosols;
  • several workplaces;
  • operational conditions; and
  • each specific use of the antimony substances.

Last month, i2a organised a workshop to encourage sectors along the supply chain to get involved. In a statement afterwards, it said: “The data will only be of value to regulatory agencies if a sufficient number of data points is collected – to reach the required statistical robustness – and each data point is collected with complete contextual information that defines the work conditions, job activities and sampling time during personal monitoring.”

The antimony association added that the data collected through its campaign will “address the shortcomings identified in previous exposure assessments before and since the REACH Regulation. It will also inform Germany’s Baua, and other regulatory bodies, about current exposure levels during the handling of antimony in the workplace.”

Source : Leigh Stringer
Global Business Editor
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