GES Introduction

The REACH regulation obliges manufacturers and importers of chemical substances to develop so-called Exposure Scenarios (ESs) as part of their registration. These scenarios describe the conditions which - if followed - ensure that the substance can be used safely i.e. without harm to man or the environment, and which are required to be communicated to downstream users as an Annex to the extended Safety Data Sheet (eSDS).

Against the background of more than 1,000 different existing solvents that are used in several hundreds of different applications this would have resulted in endless different combinations of exposure scenarios that would have created an enormous burden for chemical suppliers and downstream customers to manage thoroughly within the ambitious REACH deadlines.

Hence, ESIG started to develop the approach of generic exposure scenarios (GES) in early 2008, in cooperation with several downstream user associations (AISE for Soaps & Detergents, CEPE for Paints & Coatings, FEA for Aerosols, FECC for Distribution and FEICA for Adhesives & Sealants).

The basic approach is as simple as it was revolutionary: solvents are clustered by hazard and volatility, the uses of solvents are clustered by a combination of their hazard profile and key physicochemical properties i.e. different use combinations that represent similar risks and are controlled using similar risk management approaches.

The advantages are obvious: this kind of  standardization triggers off a significant reduction in complexity and supports a harmonized communication between suppliers and downstream users over several application segments, leading to substantial savings of time, resources and costs along the value chain.

The documented process that the solvents´ industry pioneered has undergone intense stakeholder consultation and is endorsed by the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) as well as the European Council of the Chemical Industry (Cefic).

The Output

The GES concept described above, which fully meets the REACH requirements, resulted in 22 standard generic exposure scenarios for solvents with low/moderate/high volatility for industrial (I), professional (P) and consumer (C) uses.

ESIG estimates that these cover more than 80% of the known solvent uses.

List of the 22 ESIG/ESVOC Generic Exposure Scenarios:

GES and Other Industry Sectors

ESIG and the downstream user associations as organized in the solvents´ industry forum ESVOC have developed and tested several tools and formats for GES information collection and communication :

- Their validity has been recognized by their incorporation into the ECHA Chemical Safety Assessment and Reporting Tool (Chesar) and the CEFIC guidance on REACH exposure scenarios.

- The European Standard Phrases Catalogue for Establishing Safety Data Sheets (EuPhraC) already incorporates much of the output of the ESVOC work.

- The concepts and work has been shared/leveraged with and adopted by other industry sectors  such as CONCAWE (Mineral Oil Industy), the Lower Olefins and Aromatics (LOA) REACH consortium, etc.