SG 162/25
The European Union (EU) has amended the scope and unintentional trace contaminant (UTC) limit values for five flame retardant chemicals.
On October 28, 2025, the EU issued Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1482 (the Regulation) to revise the UTC values for five polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants listed under Part A of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (POP Recast Regulation, current consolidated version to October 2025).
These five PBDE flame retardants are:
- Tetrabromodiphenyl ether (TetraBDE, CAS 40088-47-9 and others)
- Pentabromodiphenyl ether (PentaBDE, CAS 32534-81-9 and others)
- Hexabromodiphenyl ether (HexaBDE, CAS 36483-60-0 and others)
- Heptabromodiphenyl ether (HeptaBDE, CAS 68928-80-3 and others)
- Decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE, CAS 1163-19-5)
The Regulation amends point 2 under ‘Specific exemption on intermediate use or other specification’ for each of the above PBDEs. It excludes food contact materials (FCMs) and articles, as these PBDEs should not, in principle, be present in these products according to Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 on food contact plastics and Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 on food contact recycled plastics. Additionally, UTC limit values are specified for toys, childcare articles and products for the general public when they contain recovered materials.
It is important to note that these five PDBEs are also restricted in electrical and electronic (E&E) equipment under the RoHS Recast Directive (Directive 2011/65/EU, current consolidated version to January 2025).
Key highlights of the Regulation are summarized in Table 1
| Point 2 under Part A of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on POPs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Substance | Scope | Specific exemption on intermediate use or other specification | Effective date |
|
|
≤ 10 mg/kg as UTC (sum) | November 17, 2025 |
|
≤ 500 mg/kg as UTC (sum) | November 17, 2025 | |
| ≤ 350 mg/kg as UTC (sum) | December 30, 2025 | ||
| ≤ 200 mg/kg as UTC (sum) | December 30, 2027 | ||
The following products containing or made of recovered material:
|
≤ 500 mg/kg as UTC (sum) | November 17, 2025 | |
| ≤ 350 mg/kg as UTC (sum) | December 30, 2025 | ||
| ≤ 10 mg/kg as UTC (sum) | May 17, 2027 | ||
|
¹Exempts FCMs and articles ²Toys within the scope of Directive 2009/48/EC |
|||
Table 1
The Regulation will enter into force on November 17, 2025, the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
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