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Carbon nanotubes added to the SIN List as a nanomaterial of Very High Concern

Nature Nanotechnology volume 15, pages 3–4 (2020)Cite this article

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To the Editor — On 14 November 2019 at a public event in Brussels, Belgium, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) became the first nanomaterial to be added to the SIN (‘Substitute It Now’) List by the Swedish non-profit organization, ChemSec (https://chemsec.org/sin-list/). In attendance were representatives from companies, non-governmental organizations, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The event marks the end of a one year collaborative project between ChemSec and the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark where we aimed to identify potential nanomaterials of very high concern.

The SIN List is a comprehensive database of chemicals that ChemSec believe should be restricted or banned in the EU, but have not been because of the slow functioning of the European Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. As REACH implementation has so far been slow, companies, public procurers, financial investors and others have turned to the SIN List for guidance on which chemicals to stay away from. Historically, updates of the SIN List with new categories of chemicals have raised much attention both in the political arena as well as in the corporate world. For instance, the addition of endocrine disruptive chemicals (EDCs) was recognized by UNEP as one of the most robust and scientific lists of EDCs1. In 2016, the SIN List was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index by RobecoSAM2. It is also included in various ecolabels3, certification requirements4 and procurement schemes, especially in the Nordic countries5. Many companies, including H&M6, Akzo Nobel7 and Scandic8 have stated that they look closely at the SIN List when prioritizing chemicals for phase-out.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University of Denmark, Department of Environmental Engineering, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Steffen Foss Hansen

  2. ChemSec - The International Chemical Secretariat, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Anna Lennquist

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Correspondence to Steffen Foss Hansen.

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Hansen, S.F., Lennquist, A. Carbon nanotubes added to the SIN List as a nanomaterial of Very High Concern. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 3–4 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0613-9

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