REACH requires that the risks from the exposure to substances be controlled throughout the entire life cycle. This includes that conditions of safe use are established via risk assessments, documented and communicated to the downstream users of chemicals. This also applies to the environmental risks originating from downstream uses of chemicals, for instance, those from the industrial uses of adhesives and sealants. Upon application these products form solid matrices with low emissions to the environment during the application. Hence, it is expected that environmental exposure is low provided that good industrial practice is adhered to. To explore this, an environmental risk assessment for industrial uses of adhesive and sealants is performed for the environmentally most hazardous ingredients. These include several solvents, organotin catalysts, fillers, reactive resins, a pigment and a preservative. Specific environmental release categories (SPERCs) developed by the EU Adhesive and Sealants Associations (FEICA) are used for deriving emission estimates. In combination with multimedia fate modeling the environmental risk in water, sediment, soil and a sewage treatment plant is investigated. The assessment results indicate no environmental risk for any of the ingredients. The discussion evaluates the conservative nature of the assumed values of the use rates, the release factors, the fate modeling and assessment factors. It concludes that their combination results in a sufficient degree of conservatism. In view of the conservative nature of the assessment and given that the worst case ingredients of adhesives and sealants are sufficiently controlled under the generically defined use conditions, it is concluded that the SPERCs used represent safe conditions of use, irrespective of the ingredient substances of adhesives and sealants. The essential SPERC information elements are identified for the purpose of communicating the conditions of safe use. The consolidation of this informaton in safety data sheets for adhesives and sealants is discussed.

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