2.4 Substances and products in the Nordic product registers

2.4      Substances and products in the Nordic product registers

The Nordic product registers are among the most comprehensive product registers in the world with regard to completeness of information and the number of registered products and substances. The Nordic product registers contain valuable information on the actual use of chemical preparations and substances on the market both in terms of volumes, number of products, composition of products and the function and industrial categories where the substance can be found.

Of the Nordic product registers, the Danish and Swedish product registers contain information on the largest numbers of products and the highest proportion of products on the market.

In Sweden, the declaration requirements are based on the customs tariff codes, so that as a general rule, they apply to all chemical products (substances and preparations). The Swedish register therefore contains more products than those that are classified as dangerous according to EU legislation.

In Norway, declaration is mandatory for all products to which the Regulations relating to the classification, labelling, etc. of dangerous chemicals (the Chemical Labelling Regulations) apply, including consumer products. These regulations implement EU directives on the classification, labelling, etc. of chemicals in Norwegian legislation.

The requirements for declaration to the Finnish and Danish product registers are also based on these directives (In Denmark, declaration is limited to dangerous products for business use), but there are additional extensive national rules for declaration. In Finland these additional requirements for example apply to chemicals that cause danger although they are not classified, and in Denmark they apply to chemicals that cause danger although they are not classified and solvents, pesticides and biocides.

All four countries exempt products that come under legislation on foodstuffs and medicinal products from mandatory declaration. Furthermore, the duty to declare products to the product registers does not apply to cosmetic products.

In addition, there is in principle no requirement to declare solid processed articles to any of the registers. Thus, the duty to declare products to the registers does not include chemicals in textiles, chipboard, etc. But if the articles are produced in the Nordic countries the raw materials used may be declared. There is also a general exemption from the duty to declare chemicals in Sweden, Finland and Norway, if the quantity produced or imported is less than 100 kg per year (in Finland no exact amount is given). This means that small volumes of chemicals (e.g. laboratory chemicals, products for dental services) may escape registration.

The confidentiality of data in the registers is handled according to national regulations. The SPIN Database and publication of statistics makes it possible to produce public information based on the confidential information in the registers.

2.3 The kind of data in SPIN

2.3      The kind of data in SPIN

SPIN is the result of a common Nordic initiative to gather non-confidential, summarised information from the Nordic product registers on the common use of chemical substances in different types of products and industrial areas. The name SPIN stands for “Substances in Preparations in the Nordic Countries” but no specific product names are to be found among the data. The only names specified are the names of the commonly used chemical substances. All the data are summarised and no references can be made to specific concentrations of any given substance in any kind of product. The summarised data in SPIN are in general based on the following data in the Nordic product registers:

General substance information:

Summarised information on use of substances:

*)   Volume = produced volume + imported volume – exported volume. exported volume (In Finland produced volume + imported volume).

2.2 The Nordic product registers

2.2      The Nordic product registers

The Nordic product registers are central registers that keep information on chemical substances and products. National legislation requires manufacturers and importers to declare chemical substances and products to the product registers. Data in the registers includes information on function, industrial category, classification, composition, quantity etc. The registers are useful tools for the national authorities and poison information centres in efforts to prevent injury to health and environmental damage resulting from chemicals. Data in the registers is used as support for risk assessments, statistical calculations, substance flow analyses and supervision activities, and SPIN is intended to become an important tool in the same kind of work.

2.12 Limits in the use of data

2.12    Limits in the use of data

It is important to always remember that the use accounted for in SPIN is the use of substances in chemical products and preparations. The selection of registered products and preparations is different between the Nordic countries, but most important is that non-chemical products are not included. Thus the substance can very well be used and present in other kinds of products because the quantities refer to use in chemical products only. For example biocides and heavy metals contained in articles are not inluded in SPIN.

SPIN gives a rough estimation of quantities used in different areas in the Nordic countries. The figures are not as accurate as the number of digits suggests, when using them preferably round them off considerably.

2.12 Limits in the use of data

2.12    Limits in the use of data

It is important to always remember that the use accounted for in SPIN is the use of substances in chemical products and preparations. The selection of registered products and preparations is different between the Nordic countries, but most important is that non-chemical products are not included. Thus the substance can very well be used and present in other kinds of products because the quantities refer to use in chemical products only. For example biocides and heavy metals contained in articles are not inluded in SPIN.

SPIN gives a rough estimation of quantities used in different areas in the Nordic countries. The figures are not as accurate as the number of digits suggests, when using them preferably round them off considerably.

2.11 Uncertainties

2.11    Uncertainties

Systematic updating of the data in the product registers is important, since experience has shown that the general requirement to notify changes does not give satisfactory results. Experience has shown that when the composition of a product is changed, the companies do often not report this to the product registers. This error maybe is smaller in Norway where companies are asked each year if they have updated their composition data.

The total amount of a substance in SPIN is the added quantities of the substance in all products, the export amount subtracted. That is to say that if a substance is registered first as the imported raw material and then as part of the final preparation the quantity will be counted twice. Substances that are used for formulation of chemical products and that are imported, and most are in the Nordic countries, will thus be accounted for with maybe double the actual amount. The accuracy of the total net turnover will be dependent on the use of the substance; a substance imported only for use in synthesis will appear with a more correct quantity. The more disintegrated the use is, the more correct the figure will be, as it is hardly likely that the same molecule will act both as raw material to a trade, formulated and then sold to the same trade again.

Another factor giving a distortion of the quantity value is when concentration has been registered as an interval. The upper limit has been chosen for calculations of the substance amount in Denmark, Finland and Norway. The Swedish data are given as the mean percentage. Depending on how wide the allowed interval is in the different countries the discrepancy between the given value and the true value will vary.

In Sweden the possibility to not declare all ingredients in all concentrations causes uncertainty in the substance quantity figure. This is particularly important when trying to estimate substances that, however hazardous, are active in low percentage. On the other hand the other Nordic product registers mainly contain hazardous chemical products, thus giving an underestimation of both hazardous and not hazardous substances, as they don’t account for quantities in non-hazardous chemical products.

Secrecy rules have made it necessary to exclude data on many substances in SPIN. Thus, addition of subsets will not give a correct answer and can not be compared to the total amount of the substance. Moreover, Danish and Finnish industrial category quantities have been distributed with the entire substance amount for each product on each of the industrial categories given for that product. An addition of such industrial category quantities can give a value both double and triple the total substance amount.

Another obstacle when evaluating industrial category quantities is that in Sweden some industrial categories are only registered on the one digit level. This one digit level substance quantity has been distributed on the underlying two digit levels which may cause an error in allocation, some sub-category getting to much and others too little.

As a result of secrecy considerations some substances in the Nordic product registers are only mentioned in SPIN by their name. Total quantities and the total number of products have not been reported to SPIN if the substance is contained in less than 4 products and is registered by less than 3 companies. To show that the lack of information is due to confidentiality, a “Yes” is stated under the column heading “Confidential” in the “Total use”-window.

Finally it should be mentioned that information about specific substances and polymers only has been reported to SPIN when they have an unambiguous CAS-number.

Please also refer to section 2.12 “limits in the use of data”.

2.10 Codes for technical types of products and preparations (use categories)

2.10    Codes for technical types of products and preparations (use categories)

A few years ago a code list of 62 use categories, UC62, for chemical substances and preparations was developed on the basis of the 55 function categories designed by EU for new substances, later included in the HEDSET for existing substances. These substance categories could with addition of 7 new categories and a few adjustments be used for preparations as well, so the 2-digit key was retained in combination with a single letter indicating the degree of change compared to the substance categories. The Nordic registers (with Finland starting after 2003) report to SPIN using UC62.

Between 1993 and 2001 the product register in Finland used a national list of 36 use categories. In year 2002 the national use categories were changed to the UC62 codes.

The national codes used by the other registers are more detailed than UC62. Denmark and Norway use a code system describing technical function of chemical substances and preparations with practically no reference to the chemical basis. There are about 120 main categories subdivided to more than 400 specific categories.

The Swedish national use categories for report of a product to the products register are specifically created for this purpose. They can mirror the function for which a substance is used or what kind of a preparation the product is. The aim of naming the product types, that are called functions in the nomenclature of the register, has been to use the same naming as the supplier. There are about 220 Swedish use categories that were used up to 2001.

In 2002 a new set of harmonized product type codes, UCN (Use Categories Nordic) have been developed by Norway, Sweden and Denmark. UCN has replaced the existing national codes in these tree countries. In Sweden and Norway the UCN has been used since 2002.

2.1 Background

2.1      Background

The national product registers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are unique and very valuable sources of data concerning the downstream uses of chemical substances in products on the national markets.

SPIN – Substances in Preparations In the Nordic countries – is a database that contains “non-confidential” information on substances from each of the Nordic product register.

The intention behind the database SPIN is to make available to the public as much data as possible from the registers. Sometimes secrecy rules can then be an obstacle, something which here is overcome by aggregation of the data from each register. Thereby, the number of products within a certain use or industry category is increased. As a result more information on a greater number of chemical substances can be used e.g. for the purpose of exposure assessment. The information included is for example the number of products containing the substance, the annual tonnage, industrial categories and use categories, the annual tonnage within these categories and the presence or absence of the substance in consumer products.