REACH services

Environmental assessment of chemicals

BRE’s Chemical Assessment Team are experts in the environmental risk assessment of chemicals. The team have a long history of providing independent and authoritative advice to clients on the risks to the environment associated with the production, use and disposal of chemicals and act as advisors to both government and industry.

The REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation has major implications for companies within the UK and EU that produce, import of use chemical substances, or products containing chemical substances. Under this legislation, companies have to Register the chemicals they produce or import, and for the more dangerous substances they will also have to carry out a Chemical Safety Assessment and produce a Chemical Safety Report outlining the conditions under which the substance can be used safely. Users of the substance or products containing the substance (downstream users) will have to demonstrate that they comply with the conditions of safe use. Substances that have certain hazardous properties may also be subject to an Authorisation process.

The important deadlines for full registration of a pre-registered substance are:

  • 30 November 2010 for substances manufactured or imported at >1,000 tonnes per year (plus substances at lower tonnages with specific hazard classifications).
  • 31 May 2013 for the remaining substances above 100 tonnes per year.
  • 31 May 2018 for the remaining substances above 1 tonne per year.

BRE’s REACH team can help clients with a wide range of REACH requirements including:

  • Information and literature searching and critical review/interpretation of data;
  • Estimating emissions to the environment from point and diffuse sources and developing Exposure Scenarios;
  •  Prediction of the bioaccumulation, fate and effects of chemicals in the environment;
  • Assessment of environmental fate, behaviour, exposure, levels and effects of chemicals;
  • Preparation of Registration Dossiers and IUCLID datasets;
  • Chemical Safety Assessments;
  • Chemical Safety Reports;
  • Identification of PBTs and vPvBs (Substances of Very High Concern) and advice on Authorisations;
  • Environmental modelling;
  • Advice on testing requirements;
  • Provide advice and training on REACH and associated models such as EUSES;
  • Implications for, and obligations, of downstream users; and
  • Classification and understanding of the REACH status of chemicals.

As well as literature based work, BRE has extensive experience of indoor air quality monitoringmeasurement of VOC emissions from materials,  and outdoor air pollution modelling.