On December 21, 2022, South Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) issued the NIER Announcement No.2022-87 to make public the updates of hazard results of new and existing chemical substances that were previously registered under K-REACH. Most of the proposed updates published in late November were adopted, however, there are some differences and new updates (marked in red).

Amendments to Annex 1 – New Chemical Substances Hazard Assessment Results

• Updating chemical names of 5 previously registered new chemical substances (Given No. 2015-84, 2016-15, 2016-284, 2017-169, 2021-87);
• Updating hazard properties, classification and labelling information of 34 previously registered new chemical substances;
• Adding 56 substances (Given No. 2022-224 ~ 2022-279) as new chemical substances, of which 6 substances (Given No. 2022-227, 2022-228, 2022-245, 2022-249, 2022-250, 2022-256) are toxic; and
• Deleting one chemical substance (Given No. 2015-45).

Amendments to Annex 2 – Existing Chemical Substances Hazard Assessment Results

• Updating the KE numbers of 3 existing chemical substances;
• Designating 15 existing chemical substances as toxic substances and granted NIER Given No. (see updated figure below);

• Updating hazard properties, classification and labelling information of 11 previously registered existing chemical substances; and
• Adding 27 substances (Given No. 2022-312 ~ 2022-338) as existing chemical substances, most of which are toxic.

Detailed amendments can be accessed here (Pages 3 ~67).

On November 22, 2022, South Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) issued a notice (NIER Announcement No.2022-474), seeking public comments on the updates of hazard assessment results of new and existing chemical substances that were previously registered under K-REACH. These registered substances were issued with English chemical names, CAS numbers, corresponding hazard properties, classification and labelling information, as well as the determination of whether it is classified as a toxic chemical. Comments are welcome before December 12, 2022.Proposed updates include:

Draft amendments to Annex 1 – New Chemical Substances Hazard Assessment Results

• Updating chemical names of 5 previously registered new chemical substances (Given No. 2015-84, 2016-15, 2016-284, 2017-169, 2021-87);
• Updating hazard properties, classification and labelling information of 35 previously registered new chemical substances;
• Adding 58 substances (Given No. 2022-224 ~ 2022-281) as new chemical substances, of which 8 substances (Given No. 2022-226, 2022-228, 2022-229, 2022-246, 2022-250, 2022-251, 2022-257, 2022-270) are toxic; and
• Deleting one chemical substance (Given No. 2015-45).

Draft amendments to Annex 2 – Existing Chemical Substances Hazard Assessment Results

• Updating the KE numbers of 3 existing chemical substances (see figure below);
• Designating 7 existing chemical substances as toxic substances (NIER Given No. 2022-1-1085 ~ 2022-1-1091, see figure below);
• Updating hazard properties, classification and labelling information of 11 previously registered existing chemical substances; and
• Adding 30 substances (Given No. 2022-312 ~ 2022-341) as existing chemical substances, most of which are toxic.