The European Commission has published an amendment to Annex XVII of REACH, virtually banning the use of dimethylfumarate (DMF) in the EU’s Official Journal on May 15, 2012. This amendment is added to Annex XVII item 61.
The published amendment will come into force 20days after its publication.
DMF usually used as mildew preservative in production, storage and transportation of leather, shoes or textile.
Since 2008 Oct. lots of cases on skin sensibility, acute eczema and burn that are caused by contacting DMF in shoes and leather sofa are reported in EU. This is why DMF are to be banned.And based on EU RAPEX notifications, we can see violations against DMF limit mainly happened on products such as shoes, packaging of shoes. Sometimes DMF could be tested in leather, lining of textile etc.
Item 61 | Limit |
dimethylfumarate (DMF) CAS No: 624-49-7 ECNo: 210-849-0 | Shall not be used in articles or any parts thereof in concentrations greater than 0.1 mg/kg. Articles or any parts thereof containing DMF in concentrations greater than 0.1 mg/kg shall not be placed on the market. |