Bluesign releases black limits for chemical products

On July 1, 2019, Bluesign published threshold limits for chemical substances in finished chemical products like auxiliaries or dyes as the bluesign SYSTEM BLACK LIMITS (BSBL). The compilation of substances is an extract of the bluesign TOOL which was introduced in 2002.

All chemical substances regulated under the bluesign SYSTEM are managed via the bluesign TOOL, a web-based software application for chemical assessment and rating. The data for all chemicals registered in bluesign FINDER is supplied by system partners in the chemical industry. All bluesign SYSTEM PARTNERS follow a Responsible Care approach with excellent knowledge of Product Stewardship, and have outstanding Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety performance. This allows for a well-founded assessment of the respective chemical products, and limits for substances in chemical products (included in BSBL) as well as in consumer products (included in BSSL) can be derived.

The chemical substances listed on the BSBL are an extract from the bluesign TOOL and include all substances from the publicly available bluesign SYSTEM SUBSTANCE LIST (BSSL) for which a usage ban is defined. These include substances with carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic properties, or those falling under the POPs regulation. In addition, the BSBL contains monomers such as acrylamide, acrylonitrile, or ethylene oxide. All these substances could be contained in polymers and must be monitored by system partners in the chemical industry during the manufacture of polymers, including the widely-used fatty alcohol ethoxylates.