What are Substances of Very High Concern?

Under REACH, all members of the supply chain have a variety of obligations related to Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) in preparations such as paints, inks and glues and/or articles, such as toys, furniture, textiles and electrical products.

Substances of Very High Concern have hazards that have serious consequences. For example they may cause cancer (carcinogenic substances), or they may have other harmful properties and remain in the environment for a long time (persistent) and gradually build up in animals (bioaccumulative). One of the aims of REACH is to control the use of such substances via authorization and restriction and encourage industry to substitute these substances with safer ones.

SVHC Analysis and Screening

SVHC may be intentionally or inadvertently introduced into various consumer products due to the complexities of both supply chain and manufacturing process. Laboratory testing provides reliable and concrete evidence to determine chemical substance information that exists in products. Testing results also provide information on SVHC substance identification, substance volume and substance concentration, which is significant and necessary for companies to meet REACH obligations. We provide:

• Testing of substances on candidate list (PDF 178 KB)
• Testing of substances prioritized for authorization (PDF 152 KB)
• Testing of substances on registry of intentions (PDF 108 KB)
• Testing of substances defined as carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic to reproduction (CMR) Cat 1&2; persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) OR very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB)

SGS provides innovative strategies and critical technical support to set up new systems for data collection or modify and enhance internal business processes that will reduce costs and enhance your management of SVHC.

Why SGS?

Our REACH Global Competence Centre consists of a dedicated team of technical REACH experts from the consumer products industry in the fields of substance identification, restricted substance analysis and supply chain management, as well as toxicological and eco-toxicological specialists.

Our REACH expertise combined with consultancy services and experience in consumer products supply chains provides a central point of contact for global solutions.

Understand more about substances of very high concern and practical steps for compliance (PDF 1.16 MB).

To learn about your legal obligations, refer to our Safeguards (PDF 142 KB)