SVHC Candidate List: Every Plastic Additive on the REACH List (74 Entries by Additive Function)

The SVHC Candidate List is the register of substances of very high concern identified under Article 59 of REACH, and 74 of its entries are additives used in plastics or residues of them. Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) built the register as ECHA's public pool of hazard identifications, feeding candidates into the Authorisation List in Annex XIV. It is not a list of banned chemicals, so what does an entry actually require from a compounder? Four duties attach to it above 0.1 % w/w in an article, and none of them stops the sale of the plastic part.

ECHA's Candidate List held 253 entries when this page was last verified against ECHA CHEM on 22 September 2026, with the most recent inclusions on 4 February 2026. The 74 plastic-additive entries fall into 13 additive functions, led by phthalate plasticizers (16 entries), lead and organotin heat stabilizers (12), brominated and chlorinated flame retardants (8) and pigments and colorant metals (8), then antioxidants, benzotriazole UV absorbers, phosphorus and nitrogen flame retardants, siloxanes, chlorinated paraffins, crosslinking and coupling agents, PFAS residues, boron compounds and blowing agents.

This page defines what an SVHC is, sets out the four duties an entry triggers under Articles 33 and 7(2) of REACH, the SCIP database and safety data sheets, registers all 74 additives by function with their CAS numbers and inclusion dates, names the plastic additives often mistaken for SVHCs but not listed, tracks which of them have moved on to Annex XIV, separates the Candidate List from Annex XIV and Annex XVII, maps the overlap with POPs, RoHS and food-contact law, explains how to check a formulation, and logs every update that has added a plastic additive since 2008. It is a technical reference, not legal advice, and it covers EU REACH; the United Kingdom operates a separate Candidate List under UK REACH. Every function named here belongs to one of the 43 families described under plastic additives.

SVHC Candidate List verified: 22 September 2026 (ECHA CHEM). Next scheduled check: January 2027.

Table T1. The 13 additive functions at a glance

Counted from the Candidate List entries that are used as additives in plastics or occur as residues of them. Four further entries (BPA, BPS, bisphenol B, bisphenol AF) are polymer monomers, not additives, and are listed separately below.

What Is the SVHC Candidate List?#

The SVHC Candidate List is ECHA's public register of substances identified as substances of very high concern under Article 59 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH), held as candidates for the Authorisation List in Annex XIV. ECHA opens the register the moment the Member State Committee agrees an identification, and a substance stays on it indefinitely unless the Commission later moves it to Annex XIV. What makes a plastic additive a candidate in the first place?

The Candidate List is the pool from which Annex XIV entries are selected, not a parallel list with its own separate life: every Annex XIV entry started here, and most Candidate List substances never move further. "Candidate List" and "SVHC list" name the same register, so a search for either term reaches the same 253 rows, and neither term implies a ban. Inclusion triggers information duties, covered in the next section, and it is one of five layers set out in plastic additive regulations, alongside food-contact law, the Authorisation and Restriction Lists, and sector rules such as RoHS and the Toy Safety Regulation.

Which properties make a substance a substance of very high concern?#

A substance becomes an SVHC on one of six grounds set out in Article 57 of REACH, and plastic additives appear under five of them. Each ground has its own evidence route, and ECHA cites the relevant letter, (a) to (f), on every Candidate List entry. The six grounds are listed below, each with one additive example from the register.

• Carcinogenic, category 1A or 1B (57a). TBBPA, listed 17 January 2023 for carcinogenicity.
• Mutagenic, category 1A or 1B (57b). No plastic-additive entry in this register rests on mutagenicity alone; every mutagenic listing among the 74 also carries a reproductive-toxicity or carcinogenicity ground.
• Toxic for reproduction, category 1A or 1B (57c). DEHP, listed 28 October 2008, the largest single ground on the list.
• Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, PBT (57d). SCCP, listed 28 October 2008.
• Very persistent and very bioaccumulative, vPvB (57e). DBDPE, listed 5 November 2025, the newest additive entry on the whole register.
• Equivalent level of concern (57f), covering endocrine disruptors, respiratory sensitisers and substances with specific target organ toxicity after repeated exposure. Azodicarbonamide, listed 19 December 2012 as a respiratory sensitiser; triphenyl phosphate, listed 7 November 2024 as an endocrine disruptor for the environment; melamine, listed 17 January 2023 on equivalent level of concern for both human health and the environment.

Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) sits on ground (f) for its endocrine properties in human health. Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1210 of 4 July 2017 identified DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP under Article 57(f) for probable serious effects to human health, and records that the environmental part of the DBP, BBP and DIBP dossiers had been withdrawn; Annex XIV entry 7 carries the same human-health ground.

How does an additive get onto the Candidate List?#

An additive reaches the Candidate List through an Annex XV dossier and not through a market survey: a Member State or ECHA documents the hazard, a public consultation runs, and the Member State Committee agrees the identification before ECHA publishes it. The route runs in four steps.

1. A Member State or ECHA, acting at the Commission's request, prepares an Annex XV dossier that sets out the evidence for one of the six Article 57 grounds.
2. ECHA opens a public consultation on the dossier, during which any party can comment or propose an alternative classification.
3. The Member State Committee reviews the comments and agrees the identification, either unanimously or, on referral, through a Commission decision.
4. ECHA publishes the updated Candidate List under Article 59, and the new entry carries duties from that publication date.

Dicumyl peroxide is the clearest recent additive example: it carried a harmonised classification of reproductive toxicity category 1B under CLP, and that classification became the basis for its Candidate List entry on 27 June 2024. Registration, evaluation and the rest of the regulation are covered on REACH and plastic additives.

A harmonised carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductive-toxicity classification usually comes first and shortens the Annex XV dossier to little more than a cross-reference. How that classification is reached and labelled is the subject of CLP classification of plastic additives.

How often is the SVHC Candidate List updated?#

ECHA normally updates the Candidate List twice a year, in January and June, and each update adds between one and nine entries. The pace of additive-specific inclusions has been steady rather than accelerating: nine entries in January 2023, two in June 2023, five in January 2024, one in June 2024 (dicumyl peroxide), one in November 2024 (triphenyl phosphate), five in January 2025, three in June 2025, one in November 2025 (DBDPE) and two in February 2026 (n-hexane and bisphenol AF and its salts, neither a plastic additive). Two of the fourteen additive-relevant batches since 2008 fell outside the January/June rhythm, in November 2024 and November 2025, both driven by a single substance rather than a scheduled review.

No further inclusions had been published when this page was verified on 22 September 2026, so the expected June 2026 batch had not appeared by that date. The full REACH revision, which would have added a registration duty for polymers themselves, was set aside by the Commission on 27 April 2026, so a wider change to how additives are captured is not upcoming either.

Is an SVHC Banned? What a Candidate List Entry Obliges You to Do#

No: putting an additive on the Candidate List does not ban it, and a PVC compound containing a listed plasticizer can still be sold in the EU, but four duties attach to it the day the entry is published. Nothing in Article 59 forbids manufacture, import, sale or use; the article is a hazard identification and an information mechanism, not a restriction. The four duties are listed below.

• Article 33 communication. Tell every business customer, and any consumer who asks, that the article contains the substance above 0.1 % w/w.
• Article 7(2) notification. Notify ECHA when the substance exceeds both 0.1 % w/w and 1 tonne per year per producer or importer.
• SCIP notification. File the article's composition with ECHA's waste database under the Waste Framework Directive, with no tonnage threshold.
• Safety data sheet. Supply an SDS on request for a mixture, such as a masterbatch, that contains 0.1 % or more of the substance.

Candidate List status also makes an additive a "substance of concern" under Article 2(27)(a) of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and triggers screening under Article 5 of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

Article 33: telling your customers#

Article 33 of REACH makes the supplier of an article tell every business customer, on delivery and without being asked, that it contains a Candidate List substance above 0.1 % by weight, naming the substance at a minimum. The duty runs down the whole supply chain: a compounder tells the converter, the converter tells the brand owner, and each recipient has enough information to pass the same notice on.

A consumer who asks about a specific article must receive the same information, free of charge, within 45 days of the request. The duty is triggered by the presence of the substance in the article as supplied, not by whether the recipient intends to process it further, so a masterbatch producer selling into a compound above the threshold owes the notice even before the final article has been formed.

Article 7(2): notifying ECHA#

Article 7(2) adds a notification to ECHA, but only when both thresholds are crossed: the substance is above 0.1 % by weight of the article and the producer or importer places more than one tonne of it a year on the market. Both conditions apply together, never as alternatives, so a low-volume specialty compound above 0.1 % w/w can fall outside the duty entirely.

The tonnage threshold is counted per producer or importer per year, not per article and not per shipment, and the notification is due within six months of the substance's Candidate List inclusion date, or before the first placing on the market for an article already above the threshold when the entry is published.

SCIP: notifying the waste database#

The SCIP database is the duty most compounders underestimate, because it has no tonnage threshold: since 5 January 2021 every supplier of an article containing more than 0.1 % of a Candidate List substance has had to file a SCIP notification with ECHA. The obligation sits in Article 9(1)(i) of the Waste Framework Directive, not in REACH itself, which is why it survives even where the Article 7(2) notification never triggers.

SCIP data becomes public once submitted, so a waste operator downstream of the compounder can look up the same composition without contacting the supplier directly. The SCIP database entry itself is public, and a single notification can cover every article built from the same formulation, provided the composition does not change.

Safety data sheets for additives and masterbatches#

A masterbatch is a mixture and not an article, so the safety data sheet rules apply to it rather than the article duties: an SDS must be supplied on request whenever a non-classified mixture contains 0.1 % or more of a Candidate List substance. Article 31(3) of REACH sets the threshold, and it applies regardless of whether the mixture itself carries a CLP hazard classification.

A masterbatch supplier that blends a listed pigment or stabilizer above 0.1 % owes the SDS to its direct customer on request, and the obligation repeats down the chain whenever the mixture is resupplied unchanged. What has to appear in each section is on safety data sheets for plastic additives.

How is the 0.1 % threshold calculated for a plastic part?#

The 0.1 % is measured against each component article and not against the finished product, which the Court of Justice settled in case C-106/14 on 10 September 2015, the judgment the industry calls "once an article, always an article." FCD and FMB had argued that the threshold should apply to a complex product as a whole, diluting any single component's contribution; the Court rejected that reading.

A window profile whose gasket contains a listed plasticizer is assessed on the gasket, not on the window: if the plasticizer makes up more than 0.1 % of the gasket's own weight, the duties attach to the gasket as a component article, even though the same plasticizer might be a fraction of a percent of the assembled window's total mass.

The 74 Plastic Additives on the SVHC Candidate List#

The 74 plastic additives on the SVHC Candidate List fall into 13 additive functions: phthalate plasticizers, lead and organotin heat stabilizers, brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, pigments and colorant metals, antioxidants, benzotriazole UV absorbers, phosphorus and nitrogen flame retardants, siloxanes, chlorinated paraffins, crosslinking and coupling agents, PFAS residues, boron compounds and blowing agents. The register below lists every one of them with its CAS number, inclusion date, Article 57 reason and Annex XIV status.

Every entry that has its own page links from the table into the plastic additives database; the additive function and host polymer columns follow the same order used in Table T1 above.

Table T2. The 74 plastic additives on the REACH SVHC Candidate List

Rows 19-20, 23-24, 27 and 37-39 group entries that share one substance page; only the first row of each group carries the link. The Article 57(f) endocrine ground is human health for DBP, BBP, DIBP and DCHP and covers the environment as well for DEHP and, since 23 January 2024, for DBP.

1. Phthalate plasticizers (16 entries)#

Sixteen Candidate List entries are ortho-phthalate plasticizers, every one of them for reproductive toxicity under Article 57(c), and they are the reason the list is read as a plasticizer list at all. DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP, the four highest-volume members, were the first batch on 28 October 2008 and 13 January 2010, and thirteen of the sixteen entries also sit on Annex XIV. DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP carry a second, direct control: Annex XVII entry 51 has limited them to 0.1 % of the plasticised material in all articles since 7 July 2020, combined across the four substances rather than individually. The remaining twelve entries are lower-volume branched and mixed-chain phthalates identified between 2011 and 2020, most now past their Annex XIV sunset date. The molecular-weight split that decides which phthalate plasticizers were listed is explained separately.

2. Lead and organotin heat stabilizers (12 entries)#

Twelve entries are PVC heat stabilizers, six lead compounds and six tin compounds, all of them listed for reproductive toxicity under Article 57(c). The lead group covers tribasic and tetrabasic lead sulfate, dibasic lead phosphite, lead stearate and lead metal itself, added on 19 December 2012 or 27 June 2018; none carries an Annex XIV entry. DOTE and the DOTE/MOTE reaction mass are the exception: Annex XIV entries 58 and 59 carried a sunset date of 1 May 2025, so their use now needs a granted authorisation. Lead in PVC is separately restricted below 0.1 % by Annex XVII entry 63 since 29 November 2024, with recovered rigid PVC allowed up to 1.5 % until 28 May 2033. What replaced them is compared on PVC heat stabilizers: calcium-zinc and calcium-organic systems reached 83 % of EU stabilizer use by 2023.

3. Brominated and chlorinated flame retardants (8 entries)#

Eight entries are brominated or chlorinated flame retardants, and they show the escalation path most clearly: HBCDD and decaBDE were identified here first and are now controlled as persistent organic pollutants. HBCDD, listed 28 October 2008, and decaBDE, listed 19 December 2012, both moved on to the POPs Regulation, where a numeric milligram-per-kilogram limit now governs rather than the Candidate List entry alone. TBBPA, BTBPE and TBPH followed on 17 January 2023, and DBDPE, listed 5 November 2025, is the newest addition to this function and to the whole additive register. Dechlorane Plus, listed 15 January 2018, is now also a Stockholm Convention substance. The remaining commercial brominated flame retardants are listed separately.

4. Pigments and colorant metals (8 entries)#

Eight entries are pigments or the metal salts used with them, and the three lead chromate pigments are the only additives on this page whose authorisation was granted and then annulled in court. Lead chromate, lead sulfochromate yellow (PY34) and lead chromate molybdate sulfate red (PR104) reached the Candidate List on 13 January 2010 and Annex XIV in 2011, with a sunset date of 21 May 2015; the authorisation granted for their continued use in 2016 was annulled by the General Court in 2019 and the annulment was upheld on appeal in 2021. Cadmium sulphide, listed 16 December 2013, sits alongside the separate cadmium limit of Annex XVII entry 23, which caps cadmium at 0.01 % by weight in listed plastics since 10 December 2011. The three cobalt salts (dichloride, carbonate and diacetate) are oxo-degradant and drier-catalyst chemistry rather than colour pigments as such. The replacement pigment chemistry is on colorants for plastics.

5. Antioxidants and phenolic residues (7 entries)#

Seven entries are antioxidants or the phenols left behind by them, and the important detail is how narrow they are: the TNPP entry catches only TNPP containing 0.1 % or more 4-nonylphenol. Antioxidant 2246 (DBMC), listed 17 January 2022, is the only entry in the group classified for reproductive toxicity in its own right; TNPP, listed 16 July 2019, and 4-nonylphenol, listed 19 December 2012, are linked as a hydrolysis product and its precursor. 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenol and the phenylpropene and phenol oligomers entry both joined on 23 January 2024, the latter with its function in plastics not yet confirmed. Irganox 1010 and Irgafos 168, the two highest-volume polyolefin antioxidants, are not on the list. The unlisted phenolic and phosphite grades in use today are on antioxidants for plastics.

6. Benzotriazole UV absorbers (6 entries)#

Six entries are benzotriazole UV absorbers, all of them for very persistent and very bioaccumulative properties under Article 57(e), and this is the family in which a Candidate List entry has travelled furthest. UV-328, UV-320, UV-327 and UV-350 reached the Candidate List between December 2014 and December 2015 and moved on to Annex XIV entries 51 to 54, with a sunset date of 27 November 2023 that has now passed. UV-328 travelled a second time: the Stockholm Convention listed it in 2023, and EU POPs limits of 100 mg/kg apply from 4 August 2025, tightening to 10 mg/kg in 2027 and 1 mg/kg in 2029. UV-326 and UV-329, added 23 January 2024, remain off Annex XIV, though ECHA's draft 13th recommendation of 2 February 2026 proposes adding both. Each of the six benzotriazole UV absorbers is tracked with its own timeline.

7. Phosphorus and nitrogen flame retardants and phosphate plasticizers (5 entries)#

Five entries are phosphorus or nitrogen flame retardants and phosphate plasticizers, and two of them, melamine and triphenyl phosphate, were listed on the newer grounds of Article 57(f) rather than on classical toxicity. TCEP, listed 13 January 2010, and trixylyl phosphate, listed 16 December 2013, both passed their Annex XIV sunset dates in 2015 and 2023. Triphenyl phosphate, listed 7 November 2024 for endocrine properties, sits in the draft 13th Annex XIV recommendation alongside UV-326 and UV-329. Melamine cyanurate and melamine polyphosphate, the two flame-retardant salts built from melamine, are not themselves listed. The PFBS group entry covers the potassium salt used as a flame retardant in polycarbonate, but KSS is not covered. The phosphorus and nitrogen alternatives are compared on flame retardants for plastics.

8. Siloxanes from silicone additives (3 entries)#

Three entries are cyclic siloxanes, and none of them is an additive a compounder buys: D4, D5 and D6 are residues carried in by silicone release agents, anti-scratch masterbatches and silicone processing aids. All three were listed on 27 June 2018 for both persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic and very persistent, very bioaccumulative properties, the same double ground. None carries an Annex XIV entry, but REACH Annex XVII entry 70 restricts all three to 0.1 % in consumer and professional mixtures from 6 June 2026. The additive these residues come from is polydimethylsiloxane (silicone oil).

9. Chlorinated paraffins (2 entries)#

Two entries are chlorinated paraffins, the secondary plasticizers and flame retardants of flexible PVC, and both have since travelled from REACH into the Stockholm Convention. SCCP, listed 28 October 2008, has been a Stockholm Convention substance since 2017; MCCP, listed 8 July 2021, followed at the 2025 Conference of the Parties. The EU delegated regulation implementing the MCCP listing, adopted by the Commission on 11 September 2026 with a 0.1 % w/w unintentional-trace limit applying from 16 December 2026, had not yet been published in the Official Journal when this page was verified. The chlorinated paraffin limits now sit under POPs in plastics.

10. Crosslinking and coupling agents (2 entries)#

Two entries are used to build networks rather than to modify them: dicumyl peroxide, the standard crosslinker for PE-X pipe and XLPE cable, and the vinylsilane used for silane grafting. Both are listed for reproductive toxicity under Article 57(c), dicumyl peroxide since 27 June 2024 and tris(2-methoxyethoxy)vinylsilane since 17 January 2022, and both also appear in Annex XVII Appendix 6, which stops a listed CMR substance being supplied to the general public in a mixture above the concentration limit. Peroxide selection for PE-X and XLPE is on crosslinking agents.

11. PFAS residues of fluoropolymer processing aids (2 entries)#

Two entries are perfluorinated acids that reach a plastic as residues of fluoropolymer processing aids, not as additives a compounder doses. PFOA, listed 20 June 2013, and PFHxS and its salts, listed 7 July 2017, are both also Stockholm Convention POPs, and both were historically used to make PTFE and related fluoropolymers rather than dosed into a compound directly. The C9-C14 perfluorocarboxylic acids that succeeded them in processing-aid chemistry are now restricted to 25 parts per billion by Annex XVII entry 68 since 25 February 2023. The non-fluorinated route is on PFAS-free processing aids.

12. Boron compounds (2 entries)#

Two boron compounds are listed, and the reason to name them here is the question they answer: zinc borate, the flame retardant synergist made from this chemistry, is itself not on the Candidate List. Boric acid, listed 18 June 2010, and diboron trioxide, listed 18 June 2012, are both classified for reproductive toxicity under Article 57(c). Neither is dosed into a plastic directly; they matter to compounders only as the upstream chemistry behind zinc borate, a flame-retardant synergist and smoke suppressant. Zinc borate itself is not on the Candidate List.

13. Blowing agents (1 entry)#

One entry is a blowing agent: azodicarbonamide, listed on 19 December 2012 as a respiratory sensitiser, the only plastic additive on the list identified on that ground. No other blowing agent, chemical or physical, appears on the Candidate List. Azodicarbonamide remains authorised in the United States for foamed food-contact polyethylene up to 5 wt% under 21 CFR 178.3010. The alternatives to azodicarbonamide are on blowing agents.

Bisphenols on the Candidate List are monomers, not additives#

Four bisphenol entries turn up whenever someone filters the Candidate List for plastics, and none of them is an additive: BPA, BPS, bisphenol B and bisphenol AF are monomers or their residues, which is why this page counts 74 additive entries and not 78. BPA, listed 12 January 2017, is the monomer for polycarbonate and epoxy resins; BPS, listed 17 January 2023, and bisphenol B, listed 8 July 2021, are used the same way in smaller volumes; bisphenol AF and its salts, added 4 February 2026, is the newest of the four. None is dosed into a finished plastic as an additive, so none is counted among the 74. The food-contact ban that does apply to them is on EU bisphenol rules.

Which Common Plastic Additives Are Not on the SVHC Candidate List?#

The additives buyers ask about most, DINP, DIDP, DOTP, DINCH, antimony trioxide, Irganox 1010 and Irgafos 168, are not on the SVHC Candidate List, and the confusion almost always comes from a different instrument. DINP and DIDP carry an EU 10/2011 group specific migration limit of 1.8 mg/kg and an Annex XVII entry 52 limit of 0.1 % in toys and childcare articles that can be placed in the mouth, which is easy to mistake for SVHC status because both instruments use the same 0.1 % figure. DOTP (also called DEHT) is a terephthalate rather than an ortho-phthalate and carries its own EU 10/2011 migration limit; DINCH, ATBC and TOTM are the remaining non-phthalate plasticizers with no Candidate List entry. Melamine cyanurate and melamine polyphosphate are salts built from melamine, which is itself listed, but neither salt is individually named. KSS, the sulfone flame-retardant synergist, is distinct from the listed PFBS group. Each negative status was checked against ECHA CHEM on 22 September 2026 and is re-checked at every update.

Sixteen additives are set out below with what does apply to each. Not being an SVHC is not the same as being unrestricted: DINP and DIDP remain limited in mouthable toys and childcare articles, and several of the sixteen carry their own food-contact migration limit.

Table T4. Common plastic additives that are not on the SVHC Candidate List

From the Candidate List to Annex XIV: Which Additives Now Need an Authorisation#

Annex XIV is where the Candidate List turns into an actual control, and 22 of its entries are plastic additives, from HBCDD and the four restricted phthalates to the four benzotriazole UV absorbers and DOTE. Every Annex XIV entry began as a Candidate List identification; the Commission selects among Candidate List substances for inclusion, sets a latest application date for authorisation and a sunset date after which the use becomes unlawful without a granted authorisation. Of the listed additives, 22 have moved to Annex XIV in this way, spanning amending regulations from 2011 to 2022.

Most of the 22 sunset dates have already passed: the phthalate group (entries 4 to 7 and 33 to 46) sunset between 2015 and 2023, the three lead chromate pigments, TCEP and trixylyl phosphate in 2015 and 2023, the benzotriazole UV absorbers in November 2023, and DOTE and its reaction mass on 1 May 2025. DEHP in medical devices carries the only additive authorisation date still in the future, a latest application date of 1 January 2029 and a sunset of 1 July 2030 under Regulation (EU) 2023/2482, and the immediate packaging of medicinal products is exempt from entries 4 to 6 altogether. Every sunset date and the application route are on the REACH Annex XIV Authorisation List.

ECHA's draft 13th Annex XIV recommendation, published 2 February 2026, proposes adding UV-326, UV-329, triphenyl phosphate and a photoinitiator; its consultation closed 2 May 2026, and no final recommendation or amending regulation existed when this page was verified on 22 September 2026.

Table T5. Annex XIV entries that are plastic additives (22 entries)

Entries 4 to 6 exempt the immediate packaging of medicinal products. The lead chromate authorisation granted in 2016 (entries 10-12) was annulled by the General Court (2019) and the annulment was upheld on appeal (2021).

Candidate List, Authorisation List and Restriction List: What Is the Difference?#

The three REACH lists do three different jobs, and mixing them up is the most expensive mistake in an additive specification: the Candidate List identifies, Annex XIV authorises, and Annex XVII forbids. The Candidate List identifies a hazard property under Article 59 and triggers the information duties covered above, with no application route and no expiry. Annex XIV makes a specific use unlawful after its sunset date unless the Commission has granted an authorisation for that exact use, so the substance itself is never banned, only the unauthorised use of it. REACH Annex XVII restrictions forbid or limit a use directly, with no application route at all: the Commission sets a numeric or percentage limit and it applies from a fixed date.

Table T6. The three REACH lists compared

How entry 51 is mirrored outside the EU is on phthalate restrictions worldwide, which compares the EU's combined 0.1 % limit with the equivalent rules in the United States, Canada, China and Korea.

Which Candidate List Additives Are Also POPs, RoHS or Food-Contact Restricted?#

A Candidate List entry is rarely the strictest rule that applies to an additive, because six of the listed flame retardants and UV absorbers are also persistent organic pollutants, where a numeric limit in milligrams per kilogram replaces the information duty. PBDEs, including decaBDE, carry an EU POPs unintentional-trace limit of 10 mg/kg summed across the group, rising to 350 mg/kg for articles made from recovered material from 30 December 2025 and easing to 200 mg/kg from 30 December 2027. HBCDD is limited to 100 mg/kg, Dechlorane Plus to 1,000 mg/kg until 15 April 2028 and 1 mg/kg after that, and UV-328 to 100 mg/kg from 4 August 2025, tightening to 10 mg/kg in 2027 and 1 mg/kg in 2029. SCCP has carried a POPs listing since 2017; MCCP entered the Stockholm Convention's Annex A at the 2025 Conference of the Parties, and the EU's own delegated regulation implementing that listing was adopted by the Commission on 11 September 2026 but not yet published in the Official Journal when this page was verified.

A second overlap runs through electronics law: RoHS and plastic additives limits DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP to 0.1 % per homogeneous material in electrical and electronic equipment, and PBB and PBDE flame retardants to the same 0.1 %, figures set independently of the Candidate List. A third overlap runs through food contact: the phthalate specific migration limits of Regulation (EU) 2023/1442 set DEHP at 0.6 mg/kg, DBP at 0.12 mg/kg and BBP at 6 mg/kg, with DINP and DIDP together at 1.8 mg/kg under group restriction 26 and group restriction 36 capping the combined total at 0.6 mg/kg in DEHP equivalents. The specific migration limits are set by EU 10/2011.

How Do You Check and Document the SVHC Content of a Compound?#

Checking a compound against the Candidate List is a formulation exercise before it is a legal one, because the 0.1 % is measured on the component article and a masterbatch can carry in a listed substance you never bought directly. The check runs in six steps.

1. List every intentionally added substance in the formulation with its CAS number, including everything carried in by a masterbatch or a colour concentrate.
2. Convert each dosage to weight percent of the component article, not of the whole assembled part, using PHR (parts per hundred resin) to translate a PVC recipe from parts per hundred resin into wt%.
3. Match every CAS number against the Candidate List as ECHA CHEM publishes it on the date of the check, not against a saved list from an earlier check.
4. Record the check date and the Candidate List version used, because the list changes twice a year and a stale record is a documentation gap.
5. Issue the Article 33 information for every substance found above 0.1 % w/w and file the SCIP notification for the same article.
6. Re-run the check after every Candidate List update and after every raw-material or supplier change, since a new supplier's masterbatch can carry a different substance load.

A single additive can be checked with the additive regulatory status checker once a specific CAS number and dosage are known.

There is no such thing as a "REACH certificate" in law: compliance is documented through the supplier's own written declaration and the underlying formulation data behind it, not through a certificate issued by a testing laboratory or a registry. A buyer who asks for "a REACH compliance certificate" is really asking for the Article 33 information and the supplier's declaration that the formulation has been checked against the current Candidate List.

SVHC Candidate List Updates That Changed a Plastic Additive#

Fourteen Candidate List updates since 28 October 2008 have added a plastic additive, and the most recent of them was 5 November 2025, when DBDPE was identified as very persistent and very bioaccumulative. The first batch, on 28 October 2008, already set the pattern the list still follows: DEHP, DBP, BBP, SCCP, HBCDD and cobalt dichloride together span four of today's largest additive functions. Thirteen of the fourteen updates fell inside the normal January/June rhythm; two, on 7 November 2024 (triphenyl phosphate) and 5 November 2025 (DBDPE), were single-substance additions outside that cycle.

The most recent update, on 4 February 2026, added bisphenol AF and its salts and n-hexane, and neither of them is a plastic additive: bisphenol AF is a polymer monomer and n-hexane is a solvent, so the additive register itself did not change on that date. The table below logs every additive-relevant inclusion, newest first.

Table T7. SVHC Candidate List updates that added a plastic additive

Our source library holds no historical Candidate List totals, so the total column is left empty for every row except 4 February 2026.

Download the 74 additive entries in Table T2 as a CSV file, updated 22 September 2026, for use in a supplier questionnaire or an internal register.

Why So Many Plastic Additives Are on the SVHC Candidate List#

The Candidate List is not biased against plastics, but it does concentrate on a handful of additive functions, because those are the ones dosed in percent rather than in parts per million. Table T1 above shows the pattern directly: phthalate plasticizers, lead and organotin stabilizers, brominated and chlorinated flame retardants and pigments together hold 44 of the 74 entries, and all four functions are dosed at 1 to 65 wt% rather than at the parts-per-million level typical of a nucleating agent or an antimicrobial. A hazard that would stay under the toxicological radar at 50 ppm becomes an Article 57 concern at 10 wt%, simply because more of it reaches people and the environment.

The first batch, on 28 October 2008, was built from the same functions: DEHP, DBP and BBP are phthalate plasticizers, SCCP is a chlorinated-paraffin flame retardant and plasticizer, HBCDD is a brominated flame retardant, and cobalt dichloride is pigment and drier chemistry. The health framing of the same substances is on toxic plastic additives.

Legacy SVHCs in recycled plastic#

The listed additives that cause the most trouble today are the ones nobody buys any more, because lead stabilizers, cadmium pigments and brominated flame retardants come back into a compound through recyclate. A converter buying virgin PVC resin with a modern calcium-zinc stabilizer package can still receive a batch of recycled PVC compound carrying tribasic lead sulfate from decades-old pipe or window profile, well above the current Annex XVII entry 63 limit unless the recovered-material derogation applies.

The POPs Regulation sets the numeric ceiling for the recovered-material case: PBDEs, including decaBDE, are capped at 350 mg/kg in articles from recovered material from 30 December 2025, easing to 200 mg/kg from 30 December 2027. Recovered rigid PVC is allowed up to 1.5 % lead in listed building profiles and non-drinking-water pipe until 28 May 2033. Which legacy additives survive reprocessing is on legacy additives in recycled plastic.

What a listing does to substitution#

Every one of the four phthalates in Annex XVII entry 51 has a replacement that is not on the Candidate List, which is why the listing reshaped the European plasticizer market rather than shrinking it. DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP were replaced in flexible PVC by DINP, DIDP, DOTP, DINCH and TOTM, none of which carries a Candidate List entry, and European plasticizer consumption has stayed close to 8.4 million tonnes a year through the transition. The same pattern holds for stabilizers: lead systems gave way to calcium-zinc and calcium-organic chemistry, which reached 83 % of EU stabilizer use by 2023. UV-328 users moved to the remaining benzotriazoles not yet proposed for Annex XIV and to hindered amine light stabilizers, a different mechanism that carries no Candidate List entry of its own.

None of these replacements is described here as safe or non-toxic; each is simply not on the Candidate List, and what does apply to it is named where it is known. What replaced them is compared on non-phthalate plasticizers.

The same substances outside plastics#

Six further Candidate List entries are often filed as plastic additives and are left out of the register above, because their use sits outside plastics: curing agents, a photoinitiator, a monomer and a solvent. TGIC and beta-TGIC cure polyester powder coatings, not plastics, and coatings sit outside this reference's plastics-only scope. The TPO photoinitiator cures UV-curable inks and coatings and reaches a plastic only as a non-intentionally added substance carried in by a printed or coated surface. Bis(4-chlorophenyl) sulphone is a monomer for PES and PSU, not an additive to either polymer. MOCA is a polyurethane curing agent, and 2-methylimidazole is an epoxy curing agent or accelerator, both firmly on the curing-agent side of the plastics border this reference draws. n-Hexane, added to the Candidate List on 4 February 2026 alongside bisphenol AF, is a solvent with no additive function at all.

Photoinitiator and curing-agent residues are handled as NIAS from plastic additives, the category for substances that reach a finished plastic without being dosed into it on purpose.